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A Michigan police department is facing a federal lawsuit after officers allegedly beat, pepper-sprayed, and tased a Black man with schizophrenia during a mental health crisis in 2022.
According to Atlanta Black Star, the ACLU of Michigan filed the lawsuit against the Warren Police Department on behalf of 24-year-old Christopher Gibson, accusing officers of excessive force, denial of medical care, and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The incident unfolded on December 12, 2022, when Gibson’s mother called police for help after he began exhibiting symptoms of "incoherence, manic behavior… talking to himself, and sitting in a catatonic state" following the death of his cousin. Despite pleas from his mother to take him to a mental health facility, officers arrested Gibson on outstanding identity theft warrants and took him to the Warren jail.
Once inside the jail, Gibson allegedly resisted being handcuffed for transfer to another facility.
“I’m mental, bro. My mental…” Gibson said, to which an officer responded, “You’re mental, that’s fine. You can still follow directions.”
At one point during the struggle, Gibson bit an officer, prompting what ACLU attorney Mark P. Fancher argues was excessive force.
“They went with a full battalion of officers who were ready for war," Fancher said.
Body camera footage allegedly shows officers piling onto Gibson, pressing his face into the floor, tasing him, and later body-slamming him in a parking lot.
“They’re killing me, literally,” Gibson said during the assault. “My f***ing mental illness is going on, what the f***.”
Gibson was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with internal bleeding and rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition caused by extreme physical trauma.
Gibson's mother, Alwanda, said police withheld his whereabouts for three days.
“I thought they murdered my son,” she said. “Had they just listened… we wouldn’t be here right now.”
Gibson now suffers from severe PTSD.
“I actually feel lucky to still be alive after what they did to me,” Gibson said in a video released by the ACLU. “I’m just speaking with the hope that telling my story will prevent any other people with mental illnesses… from experiencing that kind of cruelty and abuse. Please help me make that happen.”
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