A 24-year-old Detroit man is dead after being stopped by police and denied access to his asthma inhaler, and his father is determined to make sure the police who contributed to his son’s death are held accountable.
Anthony Damone Clark was pulled over by Detroit Police for the “crime” of having the windows tinted on his Dodge Charger. Reed then allegedly told the officer who stopped him that he was having trouble breathing and had a history of asthma. The young man reached under the seat of the car to locate the inhaler. The cop’s response to that? He placed Clark in handcuffs, thereby meaning he could not get the medication which would probably have saved his life.
Shortly thereafter, Clark, due to a lack of oxygen to his brain, fell?unconscious. The officer then allegedly tried to give Clark his inhaler, but it was far too late. CPR also failed to revive him. Anthony Clark was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
How has the Detroit PD responded to this tragedy? They had?Jennifer Moreno of the Media Relations Department issue this statement:
?They gave him his inhaler (and) they administered CPR when the gentleman passed out and then (an ambulance) was ordered.”
Well, that certainly clears things up, don’t you think?
But Anthony Clark’s grieving father, Kevin Clark, said:
?He was gasping for air, looking for his inhaler.?When Detroit police pulled him out of the car he was already in panic mode ? and they handcuffed him, and he’s trying to tell them he can’t breathe. I believe it caused his death ? He dropped dead right there, in the hands of Detroit police officers who were negligent.?
And so another young black man is dead at the hands of the police. Will this continuing nightmare we are seeing almost on a daily basis ever end?
