70 that’s the number of people who have died in police custody after uttering ‘I can’t breathe,’ study finds
6th July 2020 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
In a June 29 article, The New York Times details the results of a study by the newspaper that found at least 70 instances over the last 10 years in which people died while in the custody of law enforcement after specifically saying the phrase “I can’t breathe.”
The Times study comes in the wake of the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, who died after a police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, during which time Floyd said “I can’t breathe.” Protests have since blossomed across the globe, with protesters calling for justice for Floyd, racial reconciliation, and the reformation or defunding of law enforcement agencies.
The June 29 Times article doesn’t list every incident the newspaper staffers uncovered, but the story highlights the 2014 death of Eric Garner in New York City, as well as other cases across the country, from California to Mississippi to Florida. The study found that many cases involved allegedly included police simply dismissing the detainees’ pleas.
“Many of the cases suggest a widespread belief that persists in departments across the country that a person being detained who says ‘I can’t breathe’ is lying or exaggerating, even if multiple officers are using pressure to restrain the person,” the article states. “Police officers, who for generations have been taught that a person who can talk can also breathe, regularly cited that bit of conventional wisdom to dismiss complaints of arrestees who were dying in front of them, records and interviews show.”
The Times didn’t include mention of any incidents in Louisiana, but the state has had a case within the last decade in which a man died after being detained by police and saying the phrase “I can’t breathe.”
On March 2, 2014, four months before Garner’s death in the New York borough of Staten Island, officers from three Lafayette Parish law enforcement agencies converged on a Texaco gas station in north Lafayette after numerous 911 calls were made from that location, including several by 30-year-old Robert Minjarez Jr. of Scott, La., who had a tragic history of drug addiction and encounters with police. According to reports, Minjarez often lapsed into periods of mania and paranoid hallucinations.
When officers arrived at the Texaco, they found Minjarez behaving erratically, apparently hallucinating and rambling about someone trying to kill him. Officers reportedly asked Minjarez to turn around and place his hands behind his back and then to get on the ground, and when Minjarez didn’t comply, a scuffle ensued as the officers reportedly attempted to restrain him.
The officers wrestled Minjarez to the ground; according to official investigations of the incident, Minjarez continued to shout gibberish, possibly not even understanding that the officers were telling him to comply with their orders.
The officers pinned Minjarez to the ground for four minutes, during which he screamed, “You’re killing me…help,” and groaned, “I can’t breathe,” before losing consciousness. The ensuing Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office’s report of the death stated that Minjarez’s cries and screams had grown “increasingly muffled, hoarse and strained” before he passed out.
Minjarez was unarmed.
Minjarez never regained consciousness after being taken to a hospital. He was declared brain dead and removed from life support. He died March 7, 2014, five days after his encounter with police.
The obituary for Minjarez that was posted on the Web site of Kinchen Funeral Home included a testament to Minjarez and his life, including his status as an organ donor.
“Mr. Robert Joseph Minjarez Jr. was an organ donor for LOPA, he saved five lives on the 11th of March which he was honored with a flag for his 100% involvement,” the obituary read in its unedited text. “Mr. Robert Joseph Minjarez Jr. loved fishing with his friends and family and loved playing his guitar and singing karaoke. Mr Minjarez was a very hospitality (hospitable) person, he would help anyone that he could, he loved family gatherings such as barbecuing, and outdoor sports is where he strived the most. Mr. Minjarez loved being a son, brother, father and an uncle. Mr. Minjarez was very loved and respected, he worked offshore as a rigger, he loved the gulf. His personality touched everyone in a positive way He will be sadly missed by many.”
The Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office subsequently ruled Minjarez’s death a homicide caused by asphyxiation, with muscle breakdown and toxicity as contributing factors. The examiner’s report stated that before the arrival of police, Minjarez appeared “mentally agitated” but not physically agitated.
In the March 6, 2015 issue of the Acadiana Advocate, Lafayette attorney Clay Burgess, representing family members of Minjarez, asserted that “the forensic pathology report is the best independent public record showing the shocking manner that this man was killed.”
Multiple federal and state agencies, including the FBI and the Louisiana State Police, investigated Minjarez’s death, as did a Lafayette grand jury, but all the entities did not pursue criminal charges against any of the officers. In May 2015, the grand jury declined to issue any indictments, while an independent investigation by the state police found no evidence of wrongdoing by the police in the Minjarez case.
In March 2015, two wrongful death lawsuits – one by Minjarez’s mother, Catherine Cortez, the other by Heather Scanlan, the mother of Minjarez’s two children – were filed in U.S. District Court Western Louisiana District. However, both cases were eventually dismissed.
This article originally published in the July 6, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
