This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
On June 24, 2020, the police chief of Tucson, Arizona, offered to resign after releasing a video showing the death of a 27-year-old Latino man, Carlos Ingram Lopez, in police custody two months prior.
The video, taken by police officers' body cameras and not made public until June 24, 2020, depicts a gruesome episode on April 21, 2020. Before his death, Mr. Lopez is seen handcuffed while pleading repeatedly in English and Spanish for water and for his nana, or grandmother.
Chief Chris Magnus said officers did not use a chokehold on Mr. Lopez but violated training guidelines by restraining the victim in a prone position, face down, for about 12 minutes before Mr. Lopez went into cardiac arrest and died at the scene.
Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson appeared shaken while discussing Mr. Lopez's death at a news conference on June 24, 2020. She spoke in Spanish, offering condolences to Mr. Lopez's family, while expressing indignation in English over what happened.
“I am deeply troubled and outraged,” said Ms. Romero, who is the first Latina to serve as mayor of the heavily Latino city. “These officers would have been terminated had they not resigned.”
