JOIN USVideo footage of death of black man in South Carolina jail stirs outrage
The death of a Black man after police used pepper spray and Tasers on him in a South Carolina jail has stirred outrage as well as widespread calls for changes to the treatment of people in custody suffering from mental illness.
Video footage released late on Thursday shows sheriff’s deputies in Charleston County extracting the man, Jamal Sutherland, from his jail cell on Jan. 5, first using pepper spray on him, and then Tasers, as he screams out in pain. He was declared dead soon after, and the graphic video spurred denunciations on Friday of the officers’ response.
Elements of the videos — including a moment when Sutherland, who has an officer’s knee on his back, says “I can’t breathe” — echo other recent instances of violent encounters between law enforcement and African Americans that have sparked sustained racial justice and police reform movements that continue to resonate throughout the United States.
“Jamal Sutherland was handled like an animal by correctional officers who had no regard for his altered mental state,” a coalition of South Carolina activist groups said in a statement on Friday. The statement said the video of his killing revealed the inhumane conditions of the detention center where he was being held, “which undoubtedly aggravated Jamal’s state of mental distress.”
The two Charleston County Sheriff’s deputies who engaged with Sutherland, Sgt. Lindsay Fickett and Deputy Brian Houle, have been placed on administrative leave, and the local prosecutor, Scarlett Wilson, said this week that she was reviewing the results of an investigation conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
On Friday, civic leaders appealed for calm in and around Charleston, where angry protests, including rioting and looting, occurred in late May after a Minneapolis police officer killed an African American man, George Floyd, while he was in custody.
“We recognize that emotions are high and concerns are justifiably warranted but it is important that we choose to address this, as a community at large, calmly and together,” Teddie Pryor, the Charleston County Commission chairman, said in a statement.
State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a Democrat who represents Charleston County, said it appeared the deputies were not sufficiently trained in dealing with mentally ill detainees.
“It appeared to be to be a breach of protocol — and if not, we need to change the protocol,” he said.