New Video Shows Officer Mocking Black Man’s Religion While Killing Him

New body camera footage was released on Wednesday (8/19) showing the last moments of a Black Muslim man who was killed by Phoenix Police in January 2017.

Muhammad Muhaymin Jr., 43, was attempting to enter a public restroom with his service dog at the local community service center but was denied because of his dog.

The situation escalated, leading to what happened in the graphic nine-minute video showing Muhaymin being held down by multiple officers, with at least one pinning his knee in the victim’s back and neck and cuffing him. You can also hear an officer mocking Muhaymin’s Muslim faith.

Throughout the video, Muhaymin is heard crying in pain and later repeating multiple times, “I can’t breathe.”

“Please, Allah,” Muhaymin says as the police officers cuff him.

“Allah? He’s not going to help you right now,” one of the officers responds as he holds Muhaymin down. “Just relax.”

“Please help me,” Muhaymin says again several times.

In previous videos, Muhaymin can be seen vomiting before his body goes limp.

“I don’t feel a pulse,” an officer can be heard saying off-camera.

“Oh, he’s dead,” said another before he turns his camera off.

Muhaymin’s death, which is similar to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, happened three years ago but is currently being brought back to light during anti-racism protests and national outrage over the targeting of Black people by law enforcement. Advocates and Muhaymin’s family said that three years after his murder, they are still waiting for justice.

The medical examiner’s office ruled Muhaymin’s death a homicide by cardiac arrest, aggravated by “coronary artery disease, psychiatric disease, acute methamphetamine intoxication, and physical exertion during law enforcement subdual.” The family’s expert witness, a forensic pathologist, disagreed, concluding that “asphyxiation due to compression of his trunk and body” — not underlying conditions or drug use — was the cause of death.

The 10 officers involved in Muhaymin’s death, Oswald Grenier, Jason Hobel, Ronaldo Canilao, David Head, Susan Heimbigner, Kevin McGowan, James Clark, Dennis Leroux, Ryan Nielsen, and supervisor Steven Wong, have not been arrested or charged, and are still working for the Phoenix Police Department.

“The murder was violent and brutal and disturbing and the circumstances surrounding how police killed Muhammad Muhaymin Jr. are abhorrent,” said Scott Simpson, Public Advocacy Director at Muslim Advocates. “They profiled him because of his race, they disregarded his disability, they mocked his Muslim faith and they treated him as subhuman because of his income, and it’s just inexcusable.”

The Phoenix Police Department, the mayor’s office, and the county district attorney’s office did not respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.

In the previous video released by authorities, Muhaymin is seen explaining to the employee, who called the police, and later the police, that he couldn’t leave behind his service dog, Chiquita. According to the victim’s family, he heavily depended on the dog for his mental illnesses of post-traumatic stress disorder, acute claustrophobia, and schizophrenia.

When the officers arrived, they found out that Muhaymin had a warrant for missing a court date on a charge of misdemeanor possession of a marijuana pipe, a charge he received after being stopped for jaywalking in 2016.

The Muhaymin family has since filed a lawsuit against the officers and the city regarding their loved one’s death. They are expected to go to trial in early 2021.

Photo: Muslim Advocates