Virginia Cop Arrested And Charged After Using A Stun Gun On A Black Man Who Cried, ‘I Can’t Breathe’
A Fairfax County, Virginia police officer has been arrested and is now facing up to three years in prison after being seen on camera using a stun gun on a black man who cried out, “I can’t breathe.”
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Bodycam video of the incident released by Fairfax County police shows the victim rambling as he walks in circles in the middle of a street at around 1:30 a.m. on Friday. It is not clear if he was suffering from anything, but at times he requests oxygen and detox treatment. Police and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department paramedics were at the scene, encouraging the man to get into the ambulance to be taken to a hospital for treatment. But apparently, the man did not want to go.
Minutes into the video, Police Officer Tyler Timberlake, an eight-year veteran of the department, uses a taser on the man without provocation. The officer wearing the camera is heard asking: “Is he wanted [for arrest]?” The officers and paramedics eventually manage to pin the man down to be cuffed. He repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe,” at which point the cops roll him to his side.
During a news conference Saturday night, Chief of Police Col. Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said the footage which is dated Friday, June 5 — showed the officer violating the department’s use-of-force policies and committing “criminal acts” that “violate our oath of office” and “ignore the sanctity of human life.”
The victim, who has not been identified publicly, was treated at a local hospital and released, Roessler said, adding he reached out to the victim and his mother to express his “disgust” with the officer’s actions and “assured her justice will be served.”
Roessler also said all the other officers who were at the scene have been “relieved of duty” while criminal and administrative investigations take place, which is department policy.
The release of the footage comes amid nationwide outrage following the horrific death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As we previously reported, four now-former officers have been arrested and now face charges in that case.
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