Videos of police violence go viral

In March 2019, cameras for the television show Live PD filmed deputies in Austin, Texas, using a stun gun four times on Javier Ambler, an African American, before he lost consciousness. He later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The Austin American-Statesman acquired body camera footage from the arrest and reported on Monday that it showed Ambler telling the Williamson County deputies, “I am not resisting. Sir, I can’t breathe. … Please. … Please.” Separately, surveillance video from March of this year depicted police in Decatur, Ala., punching Kevin Penn, an armed African American store owner who had subdued a robber and called the police.

What do police say about the incidents? Deputies tried to pull over Ambler for failing to dim his headlights. They pursued him when he did not comply. Prosecutors are preparing a case against the officers, though internal investigators did not find any violations leading up to Ambler’s death. The Decatur police officers said they mistook Penn for the suspect. The incident is under investigation.

Dig deeper: In Sophia’s World, read Sophia Lee’s reflection on protests in Los Angeles.