"I can't breathe." Michael Sabbie, a 35-year-old father of four, said this again and again and again to corrections officers who ignored his medical condition in jail, leading to his death.
A recently released video from jail shows his last moments.
The level of indifference, brutality, and inhumanity exhibited by the corrections officers who handled him in the moments leading up to his death are truly chilling.I encourage you to watch the video
here, but be warned: it is
graphic and
upsetting.
Less than 48 hours into his custody, Sabbie can be seen on the video stopping to catch his breath after returning from court. It's then that a corrections officer approaches him and violently escalates the situation, wrestling him to the ground While,
Sabbie continues to tell officers he can't breathe, begging them for medical help and water. The guards, apparently thinking he is faking it,
pepper spray him, drag him around the facility with his pants down, and force him into a shower in which he can barely stand up, then return him to the floor of his cell, where Sabbie can be seen gasping for air.
He eventually died there.The Department of Justice has
declined to charge anyone in this case. The release of the video shows that the corrections officers who handled Sabbie before his death displayed a shocking and callous disregard for his humanity, and
they should be fired IMMEDIATELY.Sabbie was another
nonviolent offender who died in our prison system. According to a police report, he was arrested on July 19, 2015, after getting into an argument with his wife over money. Sabbie’s wife told an officer he threatened her before getting out of the car and walking away. Sabbie denied threatening his wife but was arrested for third-degree assault on a household or family member, a misdemeanor.
Please sign this petition to tell Bi State Jail warden Robert Page to fire the officers in the video who handled Sabbie before his death immediately. 