A Black man who suffers from asthma died following an arrest where London police called his complaints of chest pains a "load of nonsense," a new report reveals per Insider.
A coroner's prevention of future deaths report details the death of 54-year-old Ian McDonald-Taylor following an arrest by police in Brixton, South London on June 29, 2019.
According to the report, police handcuffed McDonald-Taylor as he lay on the sidewalk.
McDonald-Taylor, who suffered from severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, began to complain of chest pain and difficulty breathing, repeatedly telling the officers "I'm fading," "I'm going to die," and "Stand me up now," per body camera footage.
The report states that a police constable then radio-ed a sergeant and said McDonald-Taylor was "on the floor playing the whole poor me poor me."
"He's saying he has chest pains he can't breathe blah blah; it's a load of nonsense, but there we go," the constable said, per the report.
Moments after the conversation, McDonald-Taylor went into cardiac arrest, and he died at a local hospital hours later.
"Watching the video footage of Ian fighting for breath and desperately pleading for help, but being dismissed and even mocked by police officers, is utterly devastating," said Michael Cooper, the victim's cousin, at the inquest for McDonald-Taylor's death. "The police are trained to deal with situations like this, yet they did not do what anyone else would have done and drive him to a hospital that was three minutes away."
"How many more deaths will it take before the police take seriously a Black man who says he can't breathe?" he added.
According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police officer did not behave "in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings."
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