L’History repeats itself tragically. An African-American man died after being pinned to the ground and held by a police officer’s knee during an arrest in Ohio. Although the incident occurred on April 18, it was not widely covered by English-language media until recently, following the release of a police-recorded video of the arrest. This case is painfully reminiscent of that of George Floyd, who died in similar circumstances in 2020.
The scene took place around 8 p.m. on Thursday April 18. Franck Tyson, a 53-year-old African-American man, who had just been released from prison and was suspected of involvement in a road accident, was arrested inside a bar, as reported Le Figaro.
In a video captured by a police officer’s body camera in Ohio and widely shared on social media, the man, held on the ground and handcuffed, can be heard repeatedly saying that he cannot breathe while a policeman holds him with his knee on his back. He died a few minutes later.READ ALSO United States: three years after the death of George Floyd, what has changed?
” I can not breathe “
After a car crashes into a power pole, the police intervene following a tip from a passerby that the driver had taken refuge in a nearby bar. The arrest that follows is tense. Frank Tyson reacted vigorously, knocking down a stool in front of the officers and raising his voice.
The officers grab him, push him to the ground and hold him still. One police officer handcuffs him while another presses his knee on his upper back, near his neck. For 30 seconds, Frank Tyson is heard repeatedly complaining, “I can’t breathe.”
The man was released from prison on April 6 after being imprisoned for twenty-four years for kidnapping and theft. The incident comes four years after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died during his arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for several minutes. The police officer was sentenced to twenty-two and a half years in prison for murder.