A warning to listeners and viewers: This story contains disturbing footage. In Texas, newly revealed police body-cam video shows Dallas police officers laughing and joking as an unarmed man having a mental health crisis lay dying in their custody. The incident occurred in August of 2016, after 32-year-old Dallas resident Tony Timpa called 911 for help, reporting he had taken drugs and was off his medication for schizophrenia. The video shows officers pinning Timpa face-first into the ground for 14 minutes as he pleaded to be released. After Timpa became unresponsive, the officers stood over his unmoving body, mocking him as though he had fallen asleep.
Police officer 1: “Wake up!”
Police officer 2: “Haha! I don’t want to go to school, Mom!”
Police officer 3: “Five more minutes, Mom!”
Police officer 2: “Five more minutes, Mom! Haha!”
Police officer 1: “First day. You can’t be late!”
At no time did the officers check to see if Timpa was breathing or had a pulse. By the time paramedics arrived on the scene and began administering CPR, Timpa was dead. The video directly contradicts claims made by the Dallas Police Department defending the officers’ behavior. After headlines, we’ll go to Dallas to speak with a lawyer representing Timpa’s family.