A family of a man killed by jailers. They're now suing he was going through a mental health episode, but I'll show you the video they piled on top of him, killed him. They should have been helping. Here it is. Okay, so this incident occurred [00:00:20] October 5, 2022. Footage shows multiple corrections officers trying to restrain and handcuff a man experiencing a mental health crisis. The lawsuit says that the staff used excessive force and that the door operator [00:00:38] sprayed enough chemicals that there was a pool of chemical on the ground. In the video, officers could be seen slipping in the narrow hallway. According to the lawsuit, he lay handcuffed on the floor for five minutes while staff walked around him. [00:00:56] When the medical team got to the area and attempted to execute life saving measures, Mr. Freeman died. Freeman, who was suffering from a mental health issue, was placed in a suicide pod that morning following a recommendation from a licensed master social worker. [00:01:14] He was actually diagnosed properly, that's according to the lawsuit. He dies because their response to a man who needed to be inside of hospital. [00:01:30] Put up the picture. Gershen Freeman loved ones Mr. Freeman. Home renowned civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump represents or [00:01:49] suing Shelby county and seeking 100 million. The complaint, filed on October 27 by his widow, Nicole, also list Sheriff Floyd Bonner and [00:02:05] Chief jailer Kirk Fields as defendants. A medical examiner determined that Mr. Freeman died from a heart condition that was aggravated by the encounter. And that his death was considered a homicide, [00:02:22] meaning other people caused it, the outlet reported. However, the official noted that the ruling does not mean a crime was committed. As ABC 24 reported, nine officers involved in his death were placed on administrative leave and charged in connection to his death. [00:02:40] Seven of them, Charles Gatewood, Chelsea Duckett, Larico Dunwell Elliott, Jeffrey Gibson, Anthony Howell, Ebony Davis and Damien Cooper. Were reportedly charged with aggravated assault resulting [00:03:00] in the death of another person. The other two, Courtney Parham and Stephen Jones, they were hit with aggravated assault and second degree murder, the outlet reported, citing court documents. Jones also faces another assault charge, six of them pleaded not guilty. [00:03:17] Let me give a statement from Attorney Crump. Quote, the first thing we want to say is thank God because the grand jury, the citizens of Shelby county, saw the same video that we saw and said that is not right. Crump said at a news conference following the indictment announcement in September, [00:03:36] Fox 13 reported. That is not just what they did to this young man who was naked. You could see that he was unarmed and had no weapon. Yet they used excessive force, [00:03:55] blow after blow, end quote. So the man has already received a mental health diagnosis. They have now moved him to a place where he has to be observed. [00:04:11] Due to the directive of the social worker who evaluated him. He's experiencing a mental health episode, he has a traumatic dynamic happen. [00:04:28] And instead of somebody acting in care, in concern with compassion, they decide to pile on top of its name while he's handcuffed and naked, and they killed. [00:04:46] You know, the protocol was very simple. You got to get a medical professional here. Now, that's your protocol, that is what you're mandated to do, that would have been easier than anything else you did. It would have required less energy, less contact with the individual. [00:05:06] Everything would have been better, and you would not be in jail, you would not have been arrested, because you followed the protocol for people who have a mental health condition, but you did not. Cuz you lack the humanity required to deal with humanity. [00:05:22] Once again, it doesn't take training, it doesn't take more sensitivity officers need more sensitivity about these things. No, it really takes you just giving a damn about people, that's it. [00:05:38] All right, Jordan, thoughts here. There's just a general negligence throughout prisons and jails in this country when something bad happens. Obviously, this is one of the worst possible outcomes that could happen. [00:05:55] But even on just the day-to-day care, food is spoiled, or they're malnourished, or they don't get adequate or inmates don't get adequate health care, people don't seem to care. And it's important for everyone to remember. [00:06:12] I would assume most people watching this understand that just because someone is in there and paying their debt to society. Doesn't mean they should be subject to inhumane or cruel or substandard treatment. But it's important to remember that everyone should have dignity and [00:06:29] their basic needs met. Here obviously, that's not the case. And I hope his family can find justice, because the sentence was not for you to be maced and beaten to death. That was not what the judge ordered. And that this occurred shows there was a grave injustice here, miscarriage. [00:06:48] And it shows the abuse of power in these often, I don't know about this one specifically, but often for profit enterprises. So we need a complete overhaul and just a total new understanding of how we should handle corrections in this country. [00:07:06] And a lot of people just have just total disregard for how people are treated. >> Speaker 1: Very well said, very well said.