Two Ohio Officers Charged with Reckless Homicide in Death of Black Man Who Cried ‘I Can’t Breathe’

Authorities said on Saturday that two Ohio police officers were charged with reckless murder in the death of a Black man who told police, “I can’t breathe.”

At a news conference on Saturday, Stark County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle L. Stone said that Camden Burch and Beau Schoenegge, two officers in Canton, have been charged with reckless murder in the death of Frank E. Tyson on April 18 during a fight with police.

Both Burch and Schoenegge, 24, were booked into jail on Friday and stayed there on Saturday, according to records seen by NBC station WKYC in Cleveland.

Stone said that he showed the grand jury the details of an investigation into Tyson’s death that was finished in August by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. As part of an indictment, the grand jurors agreed to the charges.

For each person charged with reckless homicide, a third-degree crime, Stone said they could get three years in prison and a $10,000 fine if they are found guilty.

When state and local police organizations were asked to speak, they did not get back to those trying to reach the officers or their lawyers right away.

In an interview with the Canton Repository, Craig M. Riley, head of the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council Gold Unit, said that prosecutors were using the case for political purposes just days before the election on Tuesday.

“Only by working together, investing, and talking to each other openly can we make real progress,” he said. “We can’t use our police officers as convenient scapegoats to score political points.”

The Repository says that the union speaks for Canton police managers.

After a week, the Canton Police Department shared footage from Schoenegge’s body camera of the incident. The police were called to a car accident with a fallen utility pole. A witness pointed them down the road to an AMVETS lodge, which is where they met Tyson, according to the police.

At the same time that police are trying to arrest Tyson, the video shows him knocking over a bar stool, yelling for help, and saying, “They’re trying to kill me.” He is put on the ground and handcuffed, and then a cop seems to knee Tyson in the upper body for about 30 seconds.

“I can’t breathe” is something Tyson says several times.

A police officer tells him to calm down and work with them. “I can’t breathe,” says Tyson again. “You’re on my neck,” I said after saying, “I can’t breathe.”

The film shows that after the officer lifts his knee, Tyson is left alone and doesn’t move for about five minutes. There is a question about whether Tyson is breathing and if he has calmed down. The cop then checks his pulse and applies chest compressions.

He was taken to the hospital, but cops said he was already dead when they got there.

The preliminary autopsy report says that the person died of cardiopulmonary arrest following a physical fight and being held prone, as well as acute intoxication from cocaine and alcohol.

Schoenegge and Burch, who both started working for the police in 2022 and are assigned to the traffic office, were put on paid administrative leave while the matter was looked into.

George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in the spring of 2020 when a cop put his knee to Floyd’s neck while he kept saying, “I can’t breathe.”

Before that, on July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died after a fight with New York City police officers who stopped him to look into what might have been an illegal street sale of loose smoke. As the police officer choked him, he begged, “I can’t breathe.”

When Bobby DiCello, a lawyer for Tyson’s family, spoke to the reporters after Stone’s speech, he said that the charges were a step toward justice.

He said, “The prosecutor for Stark County had the guts to bring charges to the grand jury.” “Acts of bravery are how justice works.”

The victim’s brother, John Tyson, said that the day’s news was a small step forward.

He said, “It’s not the win we were hoping for, but we will build on this small win.”

Source: Two Ohio officers charged with reckless homicide in death of Black man who pleaded ‘I can’t breathe’