Black Man Tells Oklahoma Police ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Before Dying, Officer Replied, ‘I Don’t Care’
Newly released body camera footage from an arrest in 2019 has surfaced showing a black man telling Oklahoma police officers, “I can’t breathe,” before he was transported to a hospital, where he later died. In the footage, one of the three arresting, and since cleared, officers responds with, “I don’t care.”
The incident occurred on May 20 in Oklahoma City when three officers arrived downtown, responding to a call that a black man, identified as 42-year-old Derrick Ollie Scott, was arguing with people and brandishing a gun. After Scott runs from three officers, they tackle him, remove a handgun from his pocket, and continue to restrain him. During this time, Scott repeatedly asks for his medicine, stating he couldn’t breathe. Heartlessly, one officer, Jarred Tipton, responds, “I don’t care,” as another, minutes later, says, “You can breathe just fine.”
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After several minutes, Scott appears unresponsive, forcing an officer to administer CPR before paramedics arrive. Scott was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy obtained by NBC News, which lists a collapsed lung as his cause of death, states that police response was not a result in “fatal trauma.” It noted that several other “significant” factors contributed to his death; including physical restraint, recent methamphetamine use, asthma, emphysema and heart disease. The manner of his death was listed as “undetermined.”
After an investigation into the incident, the three officers, Tipton, Ashely Copeland, and Sgt. Jennifer Titus, where all cleared of misconduct.
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