Authorities have released video footage and documents of police officers arresting a black man in Texas that resulted in his death. The recordings show that sheriff's deputies fired stun guns at Javier Ambler four times despite his cries that he was unable to breathe.
The first Floyd
According to CBS News, police officers chased the suspect down after he failed to dim his headlights. Ambler reportedly told the authorities that he suffered from congestive heart failure and called out for help. The officers then allegedly stunned him a fourth time which resulted in him losing his consciousness.
In February, the sheriff's office refused to reveal any information about the case. However, after the Texas Attorney General notified them that they had no legal reasoning to withhold information, the office turned over documents of an internal investigation.
The details of the death of Ambler, 40-year-old father of two boys, has surfaced amid the ongoing protests across the nation calling for justice for the death of George Floyd. Floyd was an African-American who died during a police arrest when a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly ten minutes.
On March 28, 2019, Ambler died as he was driving home after a night out with friends playing poker. J.J. Johnson, the Williamson County Deputy, pulled Ambler over after he saw that the black man's vehicle maintained bright headlines while facing oncoming traffic.
When Ambler refused to pull over, Johnson and his film crew of the "Live PD" chased the suspect down that lasted for 22-minutes and ending when Ambler's vehicle collided with an obstacle near downtown Austin.
Also Read: Is George Floyd Death a Staged Event? Texas Politician Cynthia Brehm Says So
Ambler exited his vehicle with his hands up in the air but reportedly resisted arrest that deputies attempted and refused to follow verbal commands, reports CNN. One of the police officers allegedly tased the man afterwards.
One of the police officer's body camera recorded the encounter, but by the time he exited their official vehicle, the struggle had already started with Ambler.
I can't breathe
Ambler could be heard yelling "I have congestive heart failure," and saying that he could not breathe several times. Deputies handcuffed Ambler about two minutes after the initial recording of the video.
Approximately 30 seconds after the suspect was handcuffed. However, officers realized that he was unresponsive, which leads one officer to call in emergency medical services to assist them.
When officers realize Ambler had no pulse, they quickly removed his handcuffs and performed emergency CPR to try and resuscitate him before medical services arrived.
According to USA Today, Ambler was brought to the Dell Seton Medical Center where medical officers continued to keep the patient alive for 50 minutes before pronouncing him dead at 2:37 a.m.
The victim's mother, Maritza Ambler, told reporters that she frequently suffered nightmares of her son meeting the same fate as Floyd. She also noted that he kept warning her son, who was a former college football player and postal worker about how to interact with law enforcement during an encounter.
"I would mention it to him, just to remind him, he is a minority," she said. Adding that he had his colour going against him.
