Community leaders in Colorado are organizing a form of hunger strike to protest the jailhouse death of a mentally ill homeless man, as they demand that a video showing his treatment at the hands of guards be released.
A prominent Denver pastor has rallied more than 200 people to join in a liquids-only diet from Monday, with some aiming to participate continuously until the evidence is made public.
An autopsy report released four days ago concluded that the death of Michael Marshall, 50, was a homicide. Marshall choked on his own vomit and died covered in abrasions while being restrained by six sheriff’s deputies at the Denver jail last November.
But the city has so far declined to release security-camera video from the jail.
Supporters of Marshall and his family are holding daily rallies outside the Denver mayor’s office.
But now prominent local pastor Terrence Hughes of the city’s New Covenant Christian Church has called for a limited form of hunger strike by clergy and citizens in Colorado, and beyond, in an attempt to force the city’s hand and obtain the video – and some measure of belated justice.
Hughes said protesters also want the names of the sheriff’s deputies involved in Marshall’s death to be released, he told the Denver Post.
In addition they are calling for retraining for sheriff’s deputies working with inmates with mental health problems, and an apology from Denver mayor Michael Hancock to Marshall’s family.
“We’re not unreasonable. Our primary stance is the video tape but we hope those other pieces are easy to accomplish,” Hughes said.
Marshall died in Denver’s downtown detention center on 11 November after being arrested for trespassing and disturbance in a city motel.
The coroner’s report last week described how he became combative in the booking area of the jail and was restrained “in a prone position” by sheriff’s deputies then shackled, and an anti-spit mask or hood was placed on his face.
Marshall vomited and asphyxiated with the mask in place. He had some health problems that contributed to the death, but his death was ruled a homicide.
The Denver Post has had an open records request to obtain the jail video footage denied by the city.
The sheriff’s deputies acted appropriately, despite the tragic death, said their attorney, Donald Sisson, without naming the individuals.
“Denver has an ugly history of law enforcement brutality. We are asking for a federal investigation by the Department of Justice into the conduct of the police department and the sheriff’s department in this city,” Mari Newman, a city attorney acting for members of Marshall’s family, told the Guardian.
Newman’s firm also represented the family of Marvin Booker, who died in the jail in 2010 under similar circumstances; the city also failed to release video and other material related to the homeless man’s death. The city settled with the family for $6m in 2014 after a jury ruled that excessive force had caused Booker’s death. Newman said a request for a federal investigation after Booker’s death had been declined. She said deputies involved in Booker’s treatment at the jail were not punished.
Both Marshall and Booker were African American and Newman said there has been a “pattern of racism” in law enforcement’s dealings with some detainees.
She said Marshall had a loving family, whom he visited on occasions, but he chose to reside at no fixed abode, effectively being homeless as he moved between shelters and cheap motels in the city.
“He probably should not even have been at the jail in the first place. There is a culture of criminalizing mental illness and poverty in this city. Michael was not a violent person,” Newman said.The family’s campaign for justice is being led by Marshall’s brother, Rodney Marshall, and sister, Brenda Wright.
The Denver police department is leading the investigation into the sheriff’s department over the death of Marshall. Newman, of Denver firm Killmer, Lane & Newman, has called for an independent investigation, external to the city’s law enforcement community.
Requests for comment from the Denver police department and the Denver mayor’s office were not immediately returned.
