SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies pile on William Jennette, a 48-year-old father of five who died at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee on May 6, 2020 after being hogtied, kneeled on, and taunted for several minutes. (Photo: Marshall County Jail)
Justice advocates on Friday condemned officers at a Tennessee county jail for taunting a hogtied man moments before his death after a local news station published video of the incident.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
--Seth Stoughton,
use-of-force expert
William Jennette--a 48-year-old white father of five--died on May 6, 2020 at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee after a group of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies restrained him and kneeled on his back for several minutes while he screamed for help, WTVF reports.
Video obtained by the Nashville station shows Jennette--who was arrested for alleged public intoxication, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest--yelling, "Help, they're going to kill me!"
One officer is heard commanding Jennette to "stay down, you stupid son of a bitch."
The video also shows Jennette repeatedly pleading with officers that he could not breathe.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid bastard," an officer identified in a lawsuit as Kendra Burton replies.
At least two officers in the video say that Jennette bit them.
At one point in the video an officer sounds a note of caution, telling his colleagues: "Easy, easy--remember asphyxiation, guys."
To which another officer responds, "That's why I'm not on his lungs."
Jennette's last words were, "I'm good."
"No, you ain't good," an officer replies.
An autopsy (pdf) performed by the Marshall County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Jennette's death a homicide, listing the cause as "acute combined drug intoxication"--he had methamphetamine in his system--with asphyxia as a "contributory cause of death."
Despite that finding, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers.
Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund called the video "an absolute nightmare," tweeting: "Grand jury refuses to indict any. That's how it usually happens."
\u201cA nightmare. An absolute nightmare. 7 officers. Grand jury refuses to indict any. That\u2019s how it usually happens. Charging & conviction (as in the case of the ofcr who killed George Floyd) is rare indeed. https://t.co/AUXjhGoncE\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1621598210
\u201c\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be able to breathe, you stupid b\u2026\u201d\n\nWilliam Jennette, a father of 5, begged for help as cops beat him, tackled him, pinned his arms, twisted his legs, knelt on his back and suffocated him to death\n\nThis man needed *help*\n\nhttps://t.co/oK1IGjOXXj\n\n#AbolishThePolice\u201d— AWKWORD (@AWKWORD) 1621602714
Chris Vanderveen, director of reporting at KUSA in Denver, tweeted that this is the 121st prone police restraint death he has logged.
\u201cAnother day. Another prone restraint death. \n\nMy goodness. \n\nThis will be the 121st death on my list. \n\nAnyone listening?????? \n\n#WilliamJennette\n#PRONE \n\nhttps://t.co/W7HDdTzUVC\u201d— Chris Vanderveen (@Chris Vanderveen) 1621602101
One of Jennette's daughters, Dominque Jennette, filed a lawsuit (pdf) this February against Marshall County, the city of Lewisburg, and several of the officers involved. The suit alleges the officers' "savage beating" and "suffocation" of Jennette caused his death, and constitute a "deprivation of civil rights" under the Fourteenth Amendment.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," his daughter told WTVF. "That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt."
Dominique Jennette said she believes the officers "should have been more aware."
"They should have been trained properly, and they weren't," she added.
Seth Stoughton, a law professor and former police officer, told WTVF that the video shows "the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years."
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," asserted Stoughton. "There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
The video's release came one day after the Associated Press published footage it obtained of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching, kicking, choking, and dragging 49-year-old Ronald Greene, who died during a May 2019 arrest following a high-speed chase.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Justice advocates on Friday condemned officers at a Tennessee county jail for taunting a hogtied man moments before his death after a local news station published video of the incident.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
--Seth Stoughton,
use-of-force expert
William Jennette--a 48-year-old white father of five--died on May 6, 2020 at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee after a group of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies restrained him and kneeled on his back for several minutes while he screamed for help, WTVF reports.
Video obtained by the Nashville station shows Jennette--who was arrested for alleged public intoxication, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest--yelling, "Help, they're going to kill me!"
One officer is heard commanding Jennette to "stay down, you stupid son of a bitch."
The video also shows Jennette repeatedly pleading with officers that he could not breathe.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid bastard," an officer identified in a lawsuit as Kendra Burton replies.
At least two officers in the video say that Jennette bit them.
At one point in the video an officer sounds a note of caution, telling his colleagues: "Easy, easy--remember asphyxiation, guys."
To which another officer responds, "That's why I'm not on his lungs."
Jennette's last words were, "I'm good."
"No, you ain't good," an officer replies.
An autopsy (pdf) performed by the Marshall County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Jennette's death a homicide, listing the cause as "acute combined drug intoxication"--he had methamphetamine in his system--with asphyxia as a "contributory cause of death."
Despite that finding, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers.
Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund called the video "an absolute nightmare," tweeting: "Grand jury refuses to indict any. That's how it usually happens."
\u201cA nightmare. An absolute nightmare. 7 officers. Grand jury refuses to indict any. That\u2019s how it usually happens. Charging & conviction (as in the case of the ofcr who killed George Floyd) is rare indeed. https://t.co/AUXjhGoncE\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1621598210
\u201c\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be able to breathe, you stupid b\u2026\u201d\n\nWilliam Jennette, a father of 5, begged for help as cops beat him, tackled him, pinned his arms, twisted his legs, knelt on his back and suffocated him to death\n\nThis man needed *help*\n\nhttps://t.co/oK1IGjOXXj\n\n#AbolishThePolice\u201d— AWKWORD (@AWKWORD) 1621602714
Chris Vanderveen, director of reporting at KUSA in Denver, tweeted that this is the 121st prone police restraint death he has logged.
\u201cAnother day. Another prone restraint death. \n\nMy goodness. \n\nThis will be the 121st death on my list. \n\nAnyone listening?????? \n\n#WilliamJennette\n#PRONE \n\nhttps://t.co/W7HDdTzUVC\u201d— Chris Vanderveen (@Chris Vanderveen) 1621602101
One of Jennette's daughters, Dominque Jennette, filed a lawsuit (pdf) this February against Marshall County, the city of Lewisburg, and several of the officers involved. The suit alleges the officers' "savage beating" and "suffocation" of Jennette caused his death, and constitute a "deprivation of civil rights" under the Fourteenth Amendment.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," his daughter told WTVF. "That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt."
Dominique Jennette said she believes the officers "should have been more aware."
"They should have been trained properly, and they weren't," she added.
Seth Stoughton, a law professor and former police officer, told WTVF that the video shows "the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years."
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," asserted Stoughton. "There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
The video's release came one day after the Associated Press published footage it obtained of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching, kicking, choking, and dragging 49-year-old Ronald Greene, who died during a May 2019 arrest following a high-speed chase.
Justice advocates on Friday condemned officers at a Tennessee county jail for taunting a hogtied man moments before his death after a local news station published video of the incident.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
--Seth Stoughton,
use-of-force expert
William Jennette--a 48-year-old white father of five--died on May 6, 2020 at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee after a group of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies restrained him and kneeled on his back for several minutes while he screamed for help, WTVF reports.
Video obtained by the Nashville station shows Jennette--who was arrested for alleged public intoxication, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest--yelling, "Help, they're going to kill me!"
One officer is heard commanding Jennette to "stay down, you stupid son of a bitch."
The video also shows Jennette repeatedly pleading with officers that he could not breathe.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid bastard," an officer identified in a lawsuit as Kendra Burton replies.
At least two officers in the video say that Jennette bit them.
At one point in the video an officer sounds a note of caution, telling his colleagues: "Easy, easy--remember asphyxiation, guys."
To which another officer responds, "That's why I'm not on his lungs."
Jennette's last words were, "I'm good."
"No, you ain't good," an officer replies.
An autopsy (pdf) performed by the Marshall County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Jennette's death a homicide, listing the cause as "acute combined drug intoxication"--he had methamphetamine in his system--with asphyxia as a "contributory cause of death."
Despite that finding, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers.
Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund called the video "an absolute nightmare," tweeting: "Grand jury refuses to indict any. That's how it usually happens."
\u201cA nightmare. An absolute nightmare. 7 officers. Grand jury refuses to indict any. That\u2019s how it usually happens. Charging & conviction (as in the case of the ofcr who killed George Floyd) is rare indeed. https://t.co/AUXjhGoncE\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1621598210
\u201c\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be able to breathe, you stupid b\u2026\u201d\n\nWilliam Jennette, a father of 5, begged for help as cops beat him, tackled him, pinned his arms, twisted his legs, knelt on his back and suffocated him to death\n\nThis man needed *help*\n\nhttps://t.co/oK1IGjOXXj\n\n#AbolishThePolice\u201d— AWKWORD (@AWKWORD) 1621602714
Chris Vanderveen, director of reporting at KUSA in Denver, tweeted that this is the 121st prone police restraint death he has logged.
\u201cAnother day. Another prone restraint death. \n\nMy goodness. \n\nThis will be the 121st death on my list. \n\nAnyone listening?????? \n\n#WilliamJennette\n#PRONE \n\nhttps://t.co/W7HDdTzUVC\u201d— Chris Vanderveen (@Chris Vanderveen) 1621602101
One of Jennette's daughters, Dominque Jennette, filed a lawsuit (pdf) this February against Marshall County, the city of Lewisburg, and several of the officers involved. The suit alleges the officers' "savage beating" and "suffocation" of Jennette caused his death, and constitute a "deprivation of civil rights" under the Fourteenth Amendment.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," his daughter told WTVF. "That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt."
Dominique Jennette said she believes the officers "should have been more aware."
"They should have been trained properly, and they weren't," she added.
Seth Stoughton, a law professor and former police officer, told WTVF that the video shows "the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years."
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," asserted Stoughton. "There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable."
The video's release came one day after the Associated Press published footage it obtained of Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching, kicking, choking, and dragging 49-year-old Ronald Greene, who died during a May 2019 arrest following a high-speed chase.