The Philip Coleman Chicago police video released this week ignited tensions in the city still reeling from the release of two other clips showing the deaths of black men in police custody.
Coleman, 38, died at Roseland Hospital in December 2012 as a result of a reaction to an
antipsychotic drug, the Chicago Tribune reported. But an autopsy, which found more than 50 bruises and abrasions all over his body, showed that he had suffered trauma.
It was then revealed that Coleman had been Tasered by police, cuffed, and dragged down a hallway — all of which was captured on camera in a video clip released Monday.
"I do not see how the manner in which Mr. Coleman was physically treated could possibly be acceptable," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement along with the release. "While the Medical Examiner ruled that Mr. Coleman died accidentally as a result of treatment he received in the hospital, it does not excuse the way he was treated when he was in custody. Something is wrong here — either the actions of the officers who dragged Mr. Coleman, or the policies of the department."
Coleman's mother reportedly called police after her son assaulted her during what the Tribune called a "mental health crisis"
"She didn't call Chicago police to kill her son," Percy Coleman, the victim's father who has since filed a civil right suits against the city and police, told the newspaper. "She called them for some help."
Police reports say Coleman, a University of Chicago political science graduate, was uncooperative and that's why he was Tasered and dragged.
The video shocked the city, which is still reeling from the two other videos released recently — one showing a white police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, with some shots coming as he lay on the ground. That officer, Jason Van Dyke, has been charged with first-degree murder in the October 2014 incident.
Another video showed the 2014 shooting death of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III, and the county state's attorney announced Tuesday that the officer involved, George Hernandez,
would not face charges, The Associated Press reported.
There were also no charges brought in the Coleman case after a police oversight committee ruled that the officers' actions were justified, according to the Tribune.
In light of the video releases, Emanuel fired Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, and Scott Ando, chief administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), was also ousted, the Tribune noted.
The IPRA had closed its investigation into Coleman's case before the video was released but said on Tuesday that it will now reopen it. The Justice Department, too, plans to investigate, U.S. Attorney General
Loretta Lynch announced Monday, NBC News reported.
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