“It’s all an act.”
That’s part of the dialogue between police officers that can be heard on newly-released body camera footage related to the death of a woman in the custody of the Knoxville Police Department.
Lisa Edwards, 60, can be heard telling officers “I am going to die” and “I am going to have a stroke” while detained on the ground.
Edwards also asks repeatedly for an inhaler and claims to have breathing issues, though officers claim she was not carrying an inhaler on her.
Knoxville police officers initially responded because Edwards allegedly refused to leave Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. She had spent the night there after complaining of abdominal pain the day before and being diagnosed with constipation.
She was discharged the morning of February 5 but then claimed to have a shattered ankle, according to police.
After being called by hospital security, police arrived and decided to arrest Edwards but had trouble lifting her into the police wagon that was called to bring her in. Edwards was in a wheelchair.
While officers waited for a patrol car to pick up Edwards, she began to complain about her breathing.
In the body camera footage, an officer tells Edwards, “Now you’re starting to piss me off,” when she falls repeatedly while they try to lift her into the wagon, calling her “dead weight.”
As the officers convene, one says, “It’s all an act.”
“We all know that s**t,” another officer responds. “But unfortunately, if she goes over and can’t breathe…”
“That act is going to turn into a problem,” a third officer says.
At this point, the officer driving the wagon appears to be uncomfortable with the situation.
“She’s saying she can’t breathe. If she falls over either way and she can’t breathe,” he says to another officer. “If she dies, that’s on me. I’m not willing to take that risk.”
Upon the arrival of a police cruiser, officers drug Edwards into the back seat. When she asks to be sat up, an officer says, “Shut up.”
Another camera view of the back of the car shows Edwards still laying down on the back seat saying, “I can’t breathe” and “They are going to kill me” as she asks again to be sat up.
Edwards is eventually sat up in the back seat, but she falls again once the car is in motion. At that point, she becomes unresponsive to the officer’s questions.
The officer eventually pulls over onto the interstate shoulder and opens the door.
“Can you get up?” he asks, then yells to other officers who were trailing behind him on the road, “She’s not responding.”
The officer lifts Edwards’s head up by her hair and says, “I don’t know if she’s faking it or what, but she’s not answering,” and the footage cuts off.
So far, the incident has resulted in four officers placed on administrative leave and an ongoing investigation into whether they violated policy.
You can see the footage by clicking here, but be warned. The footage may be considered by some to be graphic and disturbing.
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