Mentally-ill Navy vet dies after officer knelt on his neck [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Angelo Quinto, a 30-year-old mentally ill North Californian man, was killed by a responding officer who knelt down on him for over five minutes last December 23.
• His family has filed charges against the Antioch police.
• The family’s lawyer described the police wrongdoing as the “George Floyd technique.”

Suffering from a mental health crisis, a US navy veteran was killed after being asphyxiated by a police officer whom his family called for help. According to the family lawyers, he got knelt down by the officer for several minutes, resulting in his death.

Residing in Antioch in northern California, Angelo Quinto was suffering from anxiety, depression, and paranoia so his sister Isabella Collins dialed in the police last December 23.

Per the family’s statement, the responding officer took Quinto away from his mother as he knelt on his neck for about five minutes. Another officer was holding Quinto’s legs.

Based on a cellphone video recording by Cassandra Quinto-Collins, the victim’s mother, Quinto was seen lying on the floor with blood on his face. His mother can be heard saying: “What happened? Does he have a pulse?”, while officers attempted to pump his chest in a bid to regain his breath.

The 30-year-old man was brought to a local hospital unconscious. After three days, he passed away.

Filing a wrongful death claim, Quinto’s family claimed that the Antioch officers conducted a misdeed. Speaking with ABC Channel 7 News, the family’s attorney John Burris said: “Given what we know, a healthy young man in his mother’s arms, they stuffed the life out of him.”

Collins, who called for the police’ help, told the Associated Press that she regretted it.

“I asked the detectives if there was another number I should have called, and they told me that there wasn’t and that I did the right thing. But right now I can tell you that the right thing would not have killed my brother.”

The family was planning to seek a federal lawsuit against the officers on a later date, per Burris.

In an interview with the AP, the lawyer also claimed that the case and the alleged chokehold were similar to the infamous brutal death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, which ended in public outrage and nationwide protests.

“I refer to it as the George Floyd technique, that’s what snuffed the life out of him and that cannot be a lawful technique. We see not only violations of his civil rights but also violations against the rights of his mother and sisters, who saw what happened to him,” Burris said.

Until now, Antioch police have not made any comment about the incident. Since the investigation began, they said that they won’t be providing further details.

In 2019, Quinto, who came from the Philippines, was honorably discharged from navy duty. He endured battling with depression, anxiety, and paranoia before his passing.

Source: The Guardian