Black man hospitalized after police shocked and punched him during arrest in Alabama dies

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Black man hospitalized for a week following an arrest in which Alabama police shocked him with a Taser and punched him died Tuesday, law enforcement said.

It is not yet clear what caused John Scott Jr., 41, to die, or whether his arrest is related.

The uncertainty has reignited anger in Decatur, a northern Alabama city divided by the ongoing trial of a white officer charged with murder for fatally shooting a different Black man in 2023. A police statement did not specify the names or races of the officers involved in Scott’s arrest.

“Here we go again. We stated that this was going to happen again, based on what happened when Steve Perkins died. They shifted the police chief, but they got the same players still playing the game” said Rodney Gordon, president of the local NAACP chapter, referring to the recent resignation of the Decatur police chief. “How can you not change the officers and expect different results?”

The statement by interim police Chief Nadis Carlisle said he has called for the state and the FBI to investigate and asked for patience while the investigation is ongoing.

Scott was arrested April 15 after his mother called the police to her residential street because she feared that her son had stopped taking his medication and was experiencing a mental health crisis. Officers had responded to a call the mother made earlier in the day and contacted the department’s mental health liaison, who determined that he was not a threat to himself or others, so they left, according to the police statement.

At least five officers who arrived after the second call encouraged Scott to go to the hospital with emergency medical responders, shows a 28-minute body camera video later released by the police department. The video shows Scott standing without shoes at the door of the ambulance appearing confused, sweating profusely and taking deep breaths. He repeatedly shakes the officers’ hands, thanks them and tries to joke with them.

There was a warrant for Scott’s arrest based on failure to appear in court, according to arresting officers in the video and a statement from the police chief. Neither specified what the initial charges were. Scott failed to appear in court for a speeding ticket in 2021, according to Alabama’s electronic court database.

When Scott refused to go into the ambulance, officers began to arrest him. The video shows Scott starts to panic as officers attempt to pull his hands behind his back.

“Hold on. We all in this together,” Scott says, taking repeated deep breaths. “Hold on. I might get hurt, sir.”

The video shows the officers punching Scott and shocking him with a Taser after he falls to the ground and continues to refuse to put his arms behind his back.

Scott can be heard screaming “I’m sorry” repeatedly, at one point complaining that he couldn’t breathe when one officer kneels on his back. Laying in the back of the police car, Scott appears to try to spit at officers, who then put a hood over his head.

Approximately an hour after he arrived at the county jail, he started “exhibiting signs of medical distress,” according to the police statement. He was taken to a hospital where he remained for a week before his mother and police both announced his death Tuesday morning.

Before Scott died, the police department said it was possible he was hospitalized for “excited delirium” a condition that has been debunked by science organizations for years.

The city of approximately 60,000 has been roiled with protest since former Decatur police officer Mac Marquette fatally shot Steve Perkins in his own front yard. Hundreds of supporters for both Perkins and Marquette have attended the officer’s ongoing murder trial.

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Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE
Associated Press/Report For America