Do Black Lives Matter as much as a wireless earpiece?
Source: FRED TANNEAU / Getty
Cops kill. Whether cruelty, cowardice, or incompetence are to blame, the outcome is too often the same: a grieving family. What started as a 911 call for Brianna Grier’s mental health crisis ended with her death from multiple skull fractures. Fox 5 Atlanta reports officers failed to secure Grier and the patrol car door before she fell out, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI released bodycam footage showing the officers breaking protocol to prioritize a Bluetooth earpiece over a Black woman’s safety and life.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has released bodycam video of the arrest of a woman who fell out of a Hancock County deputy's patrol car and died several days later as a result of her injuries. https://t.co/xfz4jaFS80
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) July 30, 2022
BOSSIP reported that Brianna’s parents, Mary and Marvin Grier, called 911 to respond to a schizophrenic episode on July 15. They were used to calling for medical attention since Brianna was diagnosed with the disorder about a decade ago. Instead of an ambulance, two Hancock County sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested her for intoxication.
The parents of a Georgia woman who died after she allegedly fell from a moving patrol car demanded answers in their daughter's death.
It’s time for justice & accountability for #BriannaGrier #georgianaacp #NAACP #FightHarderWithCarter #gapol@AttorneyCrump @AllHailQueenP pic.twitter.com/1lNNGQKkLm— Dontaye Carter (@DontayeCarter) July 29, 2022
The Questionable Arrest
On Wednesday, July 27, authorities announced findings from their investigation into how this mysterious fall happened in the first place. The GBI conducted interviews, reviewed bodycam footage, and performed mechanical tests on the patrol car. Evidence shows officers “failed to close the rear passenger-side door before driving away.” GBI released bodycam footage of Grier’s questionable arrest and the moments immediately after she fell.
“I’m not drunk. I haven’t had anything to drink. Bring out your breathalyzer!” Grier pleaded, disputing the intoxication arrest. “Get off me! I ain’t broke no law!” she repeatedly screamed as officers carried her to the patrol car in cuffs.
“I bet you I hang myself as soon as I get in there. There’s more than one way to kill yourself,” she threatened before a final struggle to get her into the car.
A Close-up Of Incompetence
After the deputies put Grier in the backseat, did they spend an extra minute to ensure she was sitting up or wearing a seatbelt? Did they perform a breathalyzer like she asked to determine if she was drunk? Did they rethink the arrest to get urgent medical care for a mentally ill woman threatening suicide? No, they slammed the door and started looking for a lost wireless earpiece.
5 days ago Georgia Cops told Brianna Grier's family she died b/c she "kicked open the door to a moving police car & fell out."
Now body cam footage shows deputies left the door open, left her w/o a seat belt, drove away, & tried to cover up her murder.
How do you reform this?
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) July 29, 2022
From 2:40 to 5:00 on the video, both cops the flashing light of a lost Bluetooth device than the woman in their custody. About a minute later, the officer stops to find Brianna face-down in the street several feet behind the car. He taps her body and calls her name, but she doesn’t respond. “She’s still breathing,” the other deputy casually says before asking how the back door opened.
“She’s alright,” he says about Brianna, still face down in the dirt after sustaining multiple skull fractures. “Sit up!” he yells repeatedly as he flips over her lifeless body. “Go ahead, and sit up!
“Take the cuffs off. Sit up Briana. You all right. Here you go,” he said.
State investigators looking into the death of a Georgia woman who fell out of a patrol car after her arrest have concluded deputies never closed the car back door.
Brianna Grier, 28, suffered significant injuries on July 15 died at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta on July 21 pic.twitter.com/zK2cwtASMK—