Video of Irvo Otieno death by police released to public

Source: Ben Crump Law / Ben Crump Law

Last week BOSSIP reported on what prosecutors believe to be the second-degree murder of Irvo Otieno by multiple police officers and medical staff in Henrico County, Virginia. Otieno was essentially tortured for several hours before being taken to get mental health services at Central State Hospital where he was killed during his intake. Today, the full security camera footage showing numerous officers and medical staff piled atop Otieno has been released to the public and it will likely draw comparisons to the murder of George Floyd.

Source: Ben Crump Law / Ben Crump Law

In the video, you will see police officers and medical staff stacking themselves on Otieno for more than 11 minutes before he suffocates to death. There’s just no way to justify this amount of force to restrain one man. According to an article in the Washington Post, defense attorneys sought to block the release of this footage that was given to them by the prosecutor Ann Cabell Baskervill. Ultimately that motion was denied and the video is now available for public viewing.

Please be aware that this video may be triggering and difficult to watch. Please take stock of your mental health prior to pressing play. The video is over an hour long and the piling on that we described begins at approximately the 9-minute mark.

Community leaders are speaking out and planning protests to make it known that people will not stand for this continued police violence against Black bodies.

“Let me be clear — mental illness is not a crime. Being a Black man in America is not a crime,” NAACP chief executive Derrick Johnson said in a statement about the Otieno case, adding, “No person should ever face this level of violence from those who are meant to ‘serve and protect’ and treat people facing mental health crises.”

We will have more information about the fate of the accused as it becomes available.