Video: Chicago pigs release 2012 video of Philip Coleman's taser death.. SMDH...

New Chicago Police Video Prompts Rebuke From Mayor Rahm Emanuel

CHICAGO — The Chicago police, facing almost daily protests and a newly announced Justice Department investigation, released footage Monday night showing a 38-year-old black man being shocked by a Taser and dragged down a hallway by officers in 2012.

The officers’ treatment of the man, Philip Coleman, received a withering rebuke from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose handling of other police use-of-force cases has prompted calls for his resignation, and who has announced a series of policy changes and personnel moves in recent days as pressure mounted.

“I do not see how the manner in which Mr. Coleman was physically treated could possibly be acceptable,” Mr. Emanuel said in a statement. He added, “Something is wrong here — either the actions of the officers who dragged Mr. Coleman, or the policies of the department.”

Mr. Coleman, whose first name is spelled “Phillip” in police records but is listed as “Philip” in a lawsuit filed by his father, later died at a hospital. A county medical examiner noted trauma on Mr. Coleman’s body, but said his death had been caused by an allergic reaction to a medication given at the hospital.

Mr. Emanuel said he had not received a “sufficient answer” about how the officers treated Mr. Coleman, “and as a result I do not consider this case to be closed or the investigation into what happened that night to be over.”

The footage of Mr. Coleman joins a grim, growing collection of Chicago police videos released in recent weeks. The fallout from the videos has led to the departure of the police superintendent, the creation of a task force to study police accountability, the replacement of the head of the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, a federal investigation into Chicago police practices and a series of protests that continued Monday evening.

Hours before the Coleman video was made public, prosecutors released footage of a Chicago officer fatally shooting Ronald Johnson, who was 25 and black, in the back in 2014. The police and prosecutors said Mr. Johnson was armed with a handgun, a claim disputed by family members. The officer who shot Mr. Johnson was not charged with a crime.

Also, on Nov. 24, after being ordered to do so by a judge, city officials released dashcam footage from 2014 that showed Officer Jason Van ? firing 16 shots at Laquan McDonald, who was 17 and black. Most of the shots were fired after the teenager, who was carrying a knife but veering away from officers, had fallen to the ground. Officer Van ? told investigators he feared for his safety, but prosecutors charged him last month with first-degree murder.

Though the video releases in the Johnson and McDonald shootings had been widely anticipated here, Mr. Coleman’s case had played out with less media attention. But the manner in which the Coleman footage was released — at the end of a busy news day, and with detailed statements from Mr. Emanuel and John J. Escalante, the interim police superintendent — suggested that city leaders recognized the potential for intense scrutiny at a time when many protesters have accused the Chicago police of systemic mistreatment of black people.

Mr. Coleman was arrested on Dec. 12, 2012, after the police responded to a report that he had assaulted his mother. Mr. Coleman was held in a Chicago police lockup on the city’s Far South Side, where he is shown on surveillance video resting in a small cell with spartan furnishings.

At one point, six uniformed officers enter the cell, and Mr. Coleman sits up. He appears to speak for a minute or so with the police before the encounter becomes more tense. Several officers are shown physically restraining Mr. Coleman, and a Taser is deployed. An officer then drags Mr. Coleman out of the cell.

Police documents released with the video claim that Mr. Coleman was combative in the cell, and that he also fought with officers after being taken to a hospital, where he was again Tasered by an officer who they said was in “fear of sustaining serious injury.”

“The offender continued his attempts to kick and strike the officers and fireman until officers were finally able to subdue him,” reads a police report about the hospital tussle written after Mr. Coleman’s death. “This was only after a nurse injected a sedative into the offender after an extended struggle.” That report lists Mr. Coleman as the offender and the police officers as victims.

An autopsy report by Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s assistant chief medical examiner, noted dozens of bruises and cuts on Mr. Coleman’s body. But Dr. Arunkumar ruled the death accidental, and the result of a reaction to haloperidol, a medication used to treat mental illness.

Mr. Coleman’s father, Percy, sued the city in federal court after his son’s death, and a civil trial is set for March. The lawsuit claims arresting officers knew that Mr. Coleman required medical treatment for “mental health issues,” and accuses the police of failing to provide that care and of using excessive force.

Superintendent Escalante, in a statement released with the mayor’s, said he agreed with the decision to continue investigating the Coleman case. He also said his department would re-evaluate how it deals with mentally ill people.

“Independent of the facts that led to his arrest or the actions at the hospital, we are held to a higher standard and we must strive to live up to it every day,” Mr. Escalante said. “While the independent investigation is ongoing, we will be doing our own review of our policies and practices surrounding the response to mental health crises.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhmgAXphTzU