Source: Wukela Communications
UPDATED: 11:00 a.m. ET
The family of an unarmed Black man who lawyers say was tased to death by police in Alabama has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Mobile and the two officers involved.
Jawan Dallas’ family is suing for unspecified damages over the alleged “willful, malicious, wanton, reckless and fraudulent conduct towards Jawan Dallas,” the lawsuit that identifies the officers as John Doe 1 and 2.
The two officers and the city are accused of depriving Dallas “of his life and his rights under the United States Constitution.”
The lawsuit alleges that Dallas “was accosted, beating [sic] and excessively tased and drive-stun by two members of the Mobile, Alabama Police Department” and that “he was under no suspicion of committing any criminal activity.”
Read the full lawsuit by clicking here.
Dallas, 36, died July 2 in Mobile from injuries sustained during an altercation with police, who tased him multiple times during his arrest.
Mobile NAACP President Robert Clopton joined Dallas’ family and civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels, John Burris and Ben Crump to announce the lawsuit on Monday morning, according to a press release emailed to NewsOne.
What happened to Jawan Dallas?
In case you missed it, police claim Dallas was attempting to burglarize a motor home. However, he was allegedly mistaken for a burglary suspect by police, according to lawyers representing his family.
Citing a witness, attorneys representing Dallas’ family say not only was he denied the medical attention he repeatedly requested after being tased, but he also wasn’t even remotely involved in the alleged burglary.
“According to an eye-witness statement, Dallas was in his car roughly 100 yards from the alleged scene on July 2 when Mobile police responded to a 911 call reporting an alleged burglary at the Plantation Mobile Home Park around 9:45 PM,” a press release emailed to NewsOne at the time said in part. “Startled by police, Dallas exited his vehicle and was immediately tased by officers.”
AL.com reported at the time that Dallas and another male were inside the car when Dallas tried to flee. That’s when the police employed the Taser, according to AL.com’s report. The Taser reportedly didn’t affect Dallas.
But the eye witness said that after Dallas was initially tased, he called out for help and claimed he was experiencing chest pains, layers said.
The Mobile police narrative claims “Dallas attempted to grab the Taser from the officer,” AL.com reported. “After a brief struggle over the weapon, the officer regained control and again tased the suspect.”
Lawyers are demanding that the Mobile Police Department release any and all bodycam footage from the deadly encounter to set the record straight.
“Jawan Dallas wasn’t even near the scene but these officers decided that he was a suspect and tased him until he died,” Daniels said in a statement at the time. “This isn’t speculation. This is an eye-witness statement and if the Mobile Police Department wants to dispute they need to release the bodycam video.”
Daniels added: “Jawan Dallas wasn’t a threat and shouldn’t have even been a suspect. But they killed him anyway.”
Dallas was buried about two weeks later in a funeral that included national religious and civil rights leader Bishop William Barber delivering the eulogy.
A GoFundMe established for Dallas’ family over the summer has failed to reach its goal of $20,000. As of Monday morning, less than $5,000 had been raised in more than five months.
Last month, a grand jury determined there was no criminal wrongdoing by the two officers involved in Dallas’ death. The local district attorney blamed Dallas’ death on preexisting health conditions and not from being tased.
“In layman’s terms, Mr. Dallas suffered from some serious underlying medical issues,” Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said citing an autopsy report. “Those issues were exacerbated by drug use. There were multiple drugs in Mr. Dallas’ system. And then when Mr. Dallas initiated the struggle with police, that situation also exacerbated the underlying medical conditions.”
The following week, Dallas’ family was finally allowed to view the bodycam video footage from the incident.
Daniels compared the video to imagery associated with the notorious police murder of George Floyd and claimed the police told a “lie” that Dallas started the violence when he tried to reach for an officer’s taser.
Dallas’ father said viewing the footage made for “one of the worst days of my life.”
The video has not been made public.
Dallas’ death was the first of two notable police taser incidents in Alabama in the past five months.
Earlier this month, an Alabama police officer was placed on administrative leave after tasing a handcuffed Black man for no discernable reason outside of her fragile blue ego getting bruised.
Video footage captured the ruthless Dec. 2 encounter in which 24-year-old Micah Washington, shown handcuffed during a purported traffic stop, was tased on his back while he was face-down on the hood of the officer’s car. Even though Washington posed no physical threat before or during the tasing, the officer asked, “You want it again?”
Similar to the incident in Mobile with Dallas, the police narrative in Washington’s case has been disputed as the handcuffed man’s girlfriend claimed there was no traffic stop and he was simply changing his car’s tire when law enforcement approached him under false pretenses.
This is America.
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