Video: Louisiana Cops Strangle Black Man to Death for Asking to See Arrest Warrant

Michael Harriot
Today 3:23pmFiled to: NEWS

Once, for a writing prompt, I was asked to describe how it felt to be white.

I imagined that it feels like freedom. Like how flying feels to a hawk. Even the literal sky is not the limit when one is granted the privilege of being born with wings. A hawk is not an evil thing. A hawk is just a bird. It is a predator. And sometimes, at its whim, a hawk will swoop down out of the sky and pluck an insignificant little thing from the earth and eat it alive.

On Oct. 20, 2017, out of nowhere, a beast plunged from the sky, landed on 44-year-old Armando Frank, and devoured him whole.

The Advocate has obtained police body camera footage of the death of Armando Frank. In the footage, Avoyelles Parish Sherriff’s Deputies confront Frank while he is atop a tractor near the Marksville, La., Walmart and inform him that they have a warrant for his arrest.

The warrant, according to the Sherrif’s office, was for simple criminal trespassing and attempted unauthorized entry into a dwelling. The charges stemmed from a dispute with his neighbors, according to the Advocate.

In the footage, Frank does not attack the officers. He does not make any sudden moves. Instead, he refuses to dismount from the tractor and demands that the deputies, identified as Brandon Spillman and Alexander Daniel, show him a copy of the arrest warrant. The officers tell him that they do not have the warrant in their possession but that he will see it at the Sherriff’s office.

“Step off of the tractor,” one deputy demands, to which Frank replies: “Show me the warrant.”

Deputy Stillman then climbs on the tractor, grabs Frank from behind and places him a chokehold. Daniel tries to use a taser to shock Frank after he manages to free himself from the chokehold but shocks Stillman instead. You can see Frank gagging and hear him gasping for air. After a short struggle, they manage to handcuff Frank when he becomes still.

https://www.theroot.com/video-louisiana-cops-strangle-black-man-to-death-for-a-1828091116