The attorneys for the family of a homeless man who died after being stunned with a Taser ten times by a Pittsburgh police officer recently released official police footage showing the whole encounter.
The death of Jim Rogers sparked widespread outrage in the city of Pittsburgh due to the brutal nature of the encounter between him and former officer Keith Edmonds, who was investigating a bicycle theft on Oct. 13, 2021, when he came across Rogers.
The 52-minute video that Rogers’ family attorneys released is a compilation of bodycam footage, police dashboard video, and cellphone video of the encounter taken by multiple neighbors.
The footage begins with Edmonds’ bodycam video. Edmonds is seen approaching 54-year-old Rogers in a residential neighborhood after seeing that Rogers’ profile matched some parts of the suspect description he received from dispatchers.
He immediately confronts an unarmed Rogers about the bike theft, and after asking him a few questions, he frisks Rogers for “officer safety.” After Edmonds searches Rogers’ pockets and takes out a wallet, Rogers takes hold of the wallet, and Edmonds immediately forces him face-down to the ground.
Edmonds takes a Taser from his holster and presses it to Rogers’ back, threatening to use it on him if he doesn’t show his hands or put them behind his back. Rogers isn’t resisting Edmonds, but Edmonds fires off one shock when Rogers doesn’t comply with his orders.
Rogers apologizes and says he’s not doing anything. He never fights back against Edmonds, even as Edmonds shocks him with the Taser another time while he continues yelling at Rogers to put his hands behind his back.
Moments later, Edmonds releases his hold on Rogers, and Rogers tries to run away before Edmonds stuns him again, shouting the same order. The rest of the video shows Rogers continually trying to flee in distress while Edmonds continues to shock him.
The video shows Rogers breathing heavily after taking multiple shocks and saying, “I’m sorry,” and “I’m not dangerous,” several times during the encounter.
A neighbor even yelled at Edmonds, “Would you give him a minute to collect himself? How is he supposed to do anything when you keep zapping him like that?”
At one point, Rogers was lying in the middle of the street after taking several shocks as Edmonds hovered over him with his Taser still pointed. Edmonds orders him to “get on the ground.” Even though Rogers is on the ground, Edmonds tases him again.
A few minutes later, police backup arrives at the scene and multiple officers take Rogers into custody. Rogers was shocked 10 times by Edmonds before more officers arrived. No one gave him medical attention at the scene, even though he appeared to be visibly distressed. Neighbors are also heard yelling in protest at police about their treatment of Rogers.
The footage switches to a video recorded from inside a squad car showing Rogers in the backseat breathing heavily, banging his head against the back of his seat, mumbling incoherently, and screaming in agitation.
It took nearly 20 minutes for police to drive Rogers to the hospital. Officers stopped at traffic lights and chose not to turn on their emergency lights. By the time they arrived, Rogers was unresponsive. He died the next day at the hospital.
A medical examiner stated Rogers died due to acute global hypoxic-ischemic injury of the brain and ruled his death as accidental.
Pittsburgh Police ultimately fired Edmonds from the force and three other officers for excessive force, violating police procedure, and failing to get Rogers immediate medical assistance. Three of those officers were reinstated last year. Edmonds is also fighting to get his job back through a police union arbitration process.
No one was criminally charged for Rogers’ death.
Rogers’ family was awarded a historic $8 million settlement last year after filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Family attorneys said the police footage they just released was sealed during litigation, but a federal judge signed off on a court order permitting them to make it public.
