The arrest of Megan Joyce Mohn, 40, on January 11 was captured on camera by the Salt Lake City Police Department on August 11. A medical examiner determined that Mohn’s death, which occurred 19 days after being detained, was a homicide.
According to Fox News, the Salt Lake City police’s handling of the arrest, which many have cited as an instance of police brutality, prompted the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner to conclude that the death might have been a murder.
Cristina Martinez
@Felicia UT Felicia Martinez
Public comment at Monday’s council meeting: “Recognize that all future instances of police brutality in Salt Lake City are not solely attributable to the department’s incompetence, but also to the council’s cowardice in failing to enact substantive change.”
The upset woman could be heard appealing with the arresting officers and expressing her fear during the arrest.
She stated:
Please, I don’t want to pass away.”
Trigger Warning: The material in the next video may be upsetting or traumatic to some viewers. Consent of the viewer is advised.
The Salt Lake City Police Department released footage from three bodycams worn by the responding officers in the middle of the arrest’s increasing public criticism. The inquiry regarding Mohn’s passing is still open.
The Salt Lake City Police Department’s dispute
According to The Independent, the Salt Lake City Police Department received a report that Megan Joyce Mohn was circling around with a rebar pipe at 3:13 am on January 11. She was found to be in possession of spices and methamphetamine later on.
frustrated emoji
@itzyfart tw police brutality, bewildered emoji
Sign the petition to ask the Salt Lake City Police Department to release Bernardo Palacios’ body cam footage! via @Change, chng.it/qW4984H8
Mohn tells the officers in the video that her ID has been taken as they can be heard asking for her identification. She then begs for water from the authorities, but they refuse. The Salt Lake City Police Department’s Chief, Chris Burbank, took issue with the decision to take off her backpack in the end.
He stated:
“What gave you the right to tamper with someone else’s property? There is no legal authority that would allow them to harm her property.
She struggles with the officers for almost three minutes before they are able to subdue her. The officer then shackled her feet. After arriving at the hospital, it was determined that Mohn was in critical condition. Burbank alleged that the police overreacted in their use of force.
An 801 Original, according to @TheJazzyUte
This is Todd, a Marine who protested police violence by sitting outside the Utah State Capitol.
Watch the image on Twitter 258 35
He declared, “In the end, (the responding officer) caused her death; that exchange caused that woman’s death.”
Burbank went on to say
“We need to reflect on our purpose for being there. How come we’re there? Why does it need to be done? It wasn’t in this situation.
Adrian Lambrinos, a proponent against police violence and spokeswoman for the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Salt Lake City chapter, criticized the responding officers’ behavior in a formal statement.
He stated:
It’s disgusting. While it disgusts us, it also does not surprise us.”
Lambrinos went on to say
“What we see in the video is that they’re already attempting to build a justification for themselves to arrest her by obtaining identification when they come. Instead of assisting the woman, they are more worried with it.
Brown, Barbara Jones
@bjonesbrown Barbara Jones Brown
I commemorate Rep. Sandra Hollins in observance of Juneteenth since she recently made global headlines when the Utah legislature approved her bill forbidding police from kneeling on a person’s neck or applying chokeholds. She aims to pass multiple measures to stop police brutality, this one being only the first. View the picture on Twitter
122 \s17
Chief Burbank believes it was a failure on the part of the department that it took so long to open an inquiry.