Clarence Wilkerson’s Family Files Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit
Source: Michael Burrell / Getty
Police brutality does not always mean nightsticks, tasers, punches, kicks, and guns, sometimes police brutality is failing to give a damn about an arrestee’s humanity to the point that it results in great bodily harm or death.
Clarence Wilkerson was a victim of the latter version of state-sanctioned violence against Black bodies.
According to NBC News, in March of 2023, Wilkerson was taken into custody after Ashland, Kentucky, police served him an arrest warrant following a brief foot chase. Bethany Bowman, a friend of Wilkerson’s, began recording the arrest and captured the man requesting medical assistance due to trouble breathing. Bowman says Wilkerson was in full health at her house playing video games with her husband minutes prior.
Warning: the following video may be disturbing.
Bowman says she believes that she heard one of the officers say that they wouldn’t be taking Wilkerson to the hospital.
“We were asking for medical attention, he was asking for medical attention, he was asking for compassion, and he was denied and mocked for it,” Bowman said. “They refused to radio to a medic. … The last words I heard before they closed the door on Clarence was a muffled and raspy ‘I can’t breathe.’”
Let the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office tell it, Wilkerson died as a result of his acute use of methamphetamines.
According to the Lexington Herald Ledger, Wilkerson’s brother Abdul Wilkerson and a representative of Clarence’s surviving child, they think the police were negligent.
They have filed a federal lawsuit against all parties involved, including the city of Ashland, the police officers, and the department as a whole.
The suit claims that the officers involved did not render medical aid in a timely fashion and were generally negligent of Wilkerson’s health condition.
“During the arrest, he was allegedly restrained and placed in a police cruiser despite showing clear signs of medical distress, such as difficulty breathing and inability to stand,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. We sincerely hope they get every red penny and more.
