‘I Can’t Breathe’ Man Told Officers 12 Times In 30 Seconds Before They Sentenced Him To Death For Driving Under The Influence

Failures

from the professional-killers-just-out-there-roaming-the-streets dept

“I can’t breathe.“

Those are words universally recognized as an expression of respiratory distress.

Unless you’re a cop.

Then they’re perceived as, at best, non-compliance. At worst, they’re perceived as active resistance.

“I can’t breathe,” many people have told the officers currently choking the life out of them. In most documented cases, these people have ended up dead. Law enforcement refuses to see the connection between these cries for help and the corpses they created, ranging from Eric Garner’s killing by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo to George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

And they have refused to accept any responsibility for the protests and riots their actions have touched off for decades, preferring to accuse the public of being incapable of understanding the nuances of excessive force deployment or complaining that doing their jobs lawfully is just too difficult.

So it’s unsurprising we have more of the same to contend with. This killing occurred two months before George Floyd’s murder but is only coming to light now because the victim’s family has managed to force the recording out of the hands of the people who killed their loved one.

Mr. Bronstein was driving in Burbank around 1 a.m. on March 31, 2020, when he was pulled over, Mr. Carrillo said. He was about five minutes from the house in Burbank where he lived with his father, Ms. Palomino said.

The officers gave him a breathalyzer test, which showed that he was under the legal limit, but they suspected that he was under the influence of a narcotic and obtained a warrant to draw his blood, according to a police report.

They placed him in handcuffs and brought him to the station parking lot near Pasadena. The video, which was filmed by a police officer using what appeared to be a hand-held camera, showed Mr. Bronstein kneeling before the officers, his arms behind his back.

“This is wrong,” Mr. Bronstein said.

“You’re bringing the fight to this, not us,” an officer told him.

“I’m not fighting at all,” he responded.

The officer told him to take a seat and provide his arm.

“This is your last opportunity,” the officer said. “Otherwise you’re going face down on the mat and we’re going to keep on going.”

Mr. Bronstein sighed and then said, “I just need a minute, OK, please?”

His face crumpled.

“I can’t do it,” he said, and then quickly added, “I’ll do it willingly.”

But by that point, the officers had grabbed him and forced him down on the mat.

“Please don’t,” Mr. Bronstein said, repeating over and over again that he would cooperate.

“It’s too late,” one of the officers said. For nearly two minutes, Mr. Bronstein screamed and gasped, telling the officers at least a dozen times, “I can’t breathe.”

The entire recording can be seen here. Content warning: contains murder.

The video shows Bronstein was unresponsive as early as four minutes into the recording. It goes on for another 14 minutes after that as officers check his pulse, slap him in the face, and otherwise make it appear they haven’t just killed someone. It’s not until nearly the end of the recording — a full ten minutes after Bronstein stops moving — that officers attempt to give the man oxygen, shortly before deciding it’s too late for that and begin CPR.

No officers were disciplined for this. It was not captured on their dashcams, which might have led to this incident coming to light earlier. It was apparently captured by a camera (or cell phone) operated by someone present. The lawyer for the family speculates it may have been recorded for training purposes.

If so, no one’s learning anything from it yet, other than it is possible to obtain recordings not captured on on-board equipment through discovery. From what’s been reported, no officers were disciplined and the recording was filed away someplace the California Highway Patrol thought no one would ever find it.

The coroner proved useful as well, aligning the cause of death with the official narrative. (To be fair, the coroner would have had no access to the recording and would have to rely solely on reports created by officers as to the events leading up to Bronstein’s death.)

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office later determined Bronstein died from “acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.” It listed the manner of death as “undetermined.”

Perhaps this might be revised now that it’s clear there were at least six uniformed contributing factors.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says it’s “reviewing the case,” which doesn’t exactly sound like an investigation. And, to be fair to the DA’s office, it’s not as though CHP officials approached them after the incident occurred to see if criminal charges might be warranted.

It’s another senseless killing and another one committed by officers who refuse to believe anyone is truly compliant until they’re “unresponsive.” And it’s one more data point showing that being asphyxiated is about the only guaranteed outcome when officers are informed by the person they’re choking the life out of that they can’t breathe.

Filed Under: california, chp, edward bronstein, police brutality