The family of an East Bay man who died in police custody last week spoke out Tuesday following the launch of an independent investigation into his death.
Alameda police said 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez of Oakland died April 19 after suffering a “medical emergency” while officers tried arresting him. Police said they were responding to reports of an intoxicated person acting suspicious.
The family, after viewing police body cam footage of the incident, is now questioning what happened that day as they maintain Gonzalez was a perfectly healthy man.
"The police killed my brother in the same manner they killed George Floyd,” Gerardo Gonzalez said. “They had their weight on his head and his back. He was complying and they continued to pin him down with their weight."
Alameda police called Gonzalez’s death “a terrible loss of life,” and released body camera footage of the encounter.
The video shows police approach Gonzalez and speak with him before they attempt to take him into custody. It is not clear why officers tried to handcuff him.
For several minutes, police try to get his hands behind his back and tell him to comply, eventually bringing him to the ground.
Gonzalez can be heard gasping and crying out while officers use their weight to pin him to the ground for more than five minutes, putting their weight on his back, shoulder and neck. One officer holds his knee on Gonzalez's back for several minutes.
At one point, one officer suggests rolling him on his side, but another responds, "I don’t want to lose what I’ve got."
After Gonzalez seems to stop struggling with officers, they checked his pulse and started to administer aid.
Alameda officials released the names of the three officers involved as James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinley. All three are currently on administrative leave.
"We say their names to bring them into our spaces, to guide us, to show us how to fight for justice in their honor," activist Cat Brooks said, as she joined the family outside the Alameda police department to seek justice.
The Gonzalez family is demanding an independent autopsy and the release of the names of the officers involved.
City officials have launched an independent investigation.