A federal lawsuit was filed on Monday, Dec. 11, on behalf of the family of Jawan Dallas, a Black man allegedly killed by officers in Mobile, Alabama.
Prominent civil rights lawyers Ben Crump, Lee Merritt, Harry Daniels, Roderick Van Daniel, and John Burris are representing the family in their effort to sue the city for the 36-year-old’s death earlier this year.
Two officers identified as John Does are also listed as defendants in the filing. The lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star alleges that Dallas was an innocent man whose civil rights were violated on that summer night due to the “reckless and fraudulent conduct” toward him when they shocked him several times after accosting him as he was sitting in his car.
On July 2, officers from the Mobile Police Department responded to a 911 call about a burglary, according to the lawsuit. The resident described the suspect in his yard at Lot 33 as a Black man wearing a hat with a red shirt or pants. The caller also noted that he was homeless and started walking down the road at the trailer park. When the call was transferred to police dispatch, the caller merely said someone had been in his yard, the plaintiffs’ complaint avers.
However, the document alleges that the two responding officers decided to stop at Lot 27 before going to Lot 33 and confronted Dallas, who was sitting inside his car. Another unidentified man, who is white, was standing nearby in a yard, and the police started to grill them about the reported trespass. They both denied being involved, but the officers asked for identification anyway.
Per the lawsuit, the white man gave police his ID while Dallas was looking around the car, telling the officers that they were “violating his civil rights,” prompting an exchange between them. The officers demanded that Dallas exit the car and escorted him behind the vehicle. He attempted to flee but was tackled by one of the officers.
An eyewitness watching the interaction claimed that Dallas was stunned with a Taser and assaulted by officers multiple times while on the ground while he cried for help. The 911 caller would later explain to the police that Dallas was not the suspect and that their actions were “excessive and unnecessary,” the attorneys say.
According to the document, after Dallas was handcuffed, he started to complain that he could not breathe as a result of his asthma while he was lying on his back. It is alleged that he was told to “shut the f*** up” and was threatened by the officers.
“I can’t breathe….I don’t want to be George Floyd,” Dallas said, referring to the man who was murdered by a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer in 2020.
First responders and other officers arrived at the scene. One Black officer mentioned in the document lifted Dallas off his back to help his breathing, but that wasn’t effective. Another demanded that he be placed on his stomach, but he had the same complaints. He was escorted to the back of a police car and evaluated by EMTs, who allegedly failed to listen to his concerns. He eventually lost consciousness.
“Jawan was pulled out of the patrol vehicle and was administered chest compression,” the lawsuit said. “Unfortunately, Jawan never regained consciousness, and according to Jawan’s EMS records, he died on scene.”
The complaint seeks $36 million in damages. The attorneys have been calling for officials to release the body camera footage.
“If they won’t be transparent, that means they don’t want any accountability,” Crump said. “And so it builds greater mistrust.”
