New video of a fatal 2019 arrest in Oklahoma shows a white officer respond 'I don't care' when Black man he is arresting says 'I can't breathe'

• A Black man being restrained by Oklahoma City police in a fatal May 2019 arrest pleaded "I can't breathe," to which an officer responded "I don't care."
• Police restrained Derrick Scott after a report of a disturbance involving a man brandishing a gun, and he appeared to go unconscious as he was held for 13 minutes.
• An officer says "You can breathe just fine," and at one point the officers accuse him of pretending to be unconscious.
• He was brought to hospital by paramedics and died an hour after the incident, where the cause of death was listed as a collapsed lung.
• The police chief said the officers acted properly.
  

New video footage released by Oklahoma City police shows that a black man being restrained by officers during a fatal arrest pleaded "I can't breathe," prompting an officer to respond "I don't care."

The video, released Monday, shows Derrick Scott, 42, being restrained by three police officers in Oklahoma City in May 2019.

"I can't breathe! Please! Help me! I can't breathe," he said, and he asked for his medicine.

The words are similar to those used by George Floyd in May 2020 as well as Eric Garner in 2014, both of whom died in the course of being arrested.

Floyd's death has sparked mass protests against police brutality across the US.

The release of the video of Scott's arrest was demanded by protesters in Oklahoma. The officers involved were not prosecuted.

You can watch it, with comments from the city's police chief, here. The video shows violence and some may find it disturbing.

The video shows that an officer, named by The Washington Post as Jarred Tipton, replied to Scott's complaint that he could not breathe by saying "I don't care."

The Post reported that Scott was restrained for around 13 minutes. He became unresponsive and was brought to hospital, where he died around an hour after he was stopped by officers.

The police said officers were responding to a report that a man was involved in a "disturbance" and was "brandishing a gun."

The video shows two officers arriving at the scene, where they see Scott and ask him to turn around.

He puts his hands up and appears to start to turn, but then begins to run, prompting officers to chase him with their guns drawn.

The officers catch up to Scott, and are heard shouting "Get your arms behind your back" and "I'm gonna tase you" as they begin to restrain and handcuff him. A third officer also arrived.

One officer added: "Stop resisting." It is unclear which officer is speaking when they are off camera.

The video shows one officer with her knee between Scott's shoulder blades, and another straddling Scott's back.

An officer says "You can breathe just fine."

Officers remove a gun from his pocket, and say he matches the description of their suspect.

And at one point, an officer says: "He's acting like he's unconscious."

Scott appears unresponsive at one point in the video, though he is conscious as he was moved by paramedics.

According to NBC News, an officer tried to administer CPR before the paramedics arrived.

The Oklahoman newspaper and NBC reported that an autopsy listed a collapsed lung as his cause of death.

They reported that the autopsy said the police response did not result in "fatal trauma," and listed several other "significant" factors that contributed to his death, including physical restraint, recent methamphetamine use, asthma, emphysema and heart disease.

Scott's mother, Vickey Scott, said after watching the video that "I think that it was one of the most inhumane things that I have ever seen," The Oklahoman reported.

"They did not do anything for him. They treated him like he was an animal. He was trying to get his breath. He was trying to breathe, and they ignored him the whole time, like he was nothing. They even treat animals better than they treated my son."

She said that officers accused Scott of faking being unconscious.

"It's very hard," she said. "I want every mother to watch that ... and imagine that's your son's last so many minutes of life and he's dying and they're saying that he's faking."

Oklahoma City Police Captain Larry Withrow said in a news conference on Tuesday, the day after the video was released, that police "frequently" hear suspects say "I can't breathe."

He dismissed criticism of Tipton's "I don't care" response.

"It's not uncommon for people, when you're struggling with them, when you're trying to get him under control, to say, 'I can't breathe.' You hear that frequently," he said.

"If they're still struggling and they're still fighting with you and they're talking with you, it makes you wonder: Are they really having difficulty breathing? Or are they just trying to get away?"

He said that the officers made this comment and suggested Scott was faking "in the heat of a conflict," and said it was important to "understand the officers are fighting with someone."

He said an officer "immediately" called for medical assistance after Scott appeared to go unconscious, and moved him so he could "breathe and relax."

He also said that Scott became "combative" as he was loaded onto a gurney, including "kicking" at officers, and became unresponsive after he was loaded into the ambulance, where an officer travelling with him performed CPR.

"This case was fully investigated by the Oklahoma City Police Department, and handed over to the DA's office."

He said the district attorney reviewed the case, "and determined there was no misconduct or inappropriate action on the part of the officers."

"He cleared them of any criminal wrongdoing, and they returned to regular duty."

The other two officers were Ashley Copeland and Sgt. Jennifer Titus.