Shocking video shows man pleading ‘I can’t breathe’ to guards before dying in jail
Disturbing new video published online on Wednesday night shows Michael Sabbie, a black 35-year-old father of four, pleading with corrections officers for medical attention—yelling “I can’t breathe” almost 20 times—after being violently subdued in jail, Bi State Jail, a facility that sits on the border of Arkansas and Texas.
On July 22, 2015—the morning after the incident—Sabbie was found unresponsive in his cell. A medical examiner deemed his death “natural.” He died just a week after Sandra Bland was found dead in a Texas county jail after her arrest during a traffic stop.
The disturbing video, which was first published by The Huffington Post, shows five officers pile on top of Sabbie, who gasps: “I can’t breathe.” As the video rolls, an officer insists that Sabbie, who is lying face down on the jail floor, is “resisting” as a sixth officer pepper-sprays him in the face.