Family attorney and expert liken Frank Tyson's death in Canton to George Floyd

• An attorney representing the family of Frank Tyson is likening the circumstances surrounding his death to George Floyd.
• A criminal justice assistant professor says Tyson should not have been left face down so long.
• The Stark County NAACP says the civil rights organization is "in the fight!"

CANTON ‒ An attorney representing the family of Frank Tyson, who died while being arrested by city police, is likening the circumstances of his death to George Floyd.

Both Tyson and Floyd's last words were "I can't breathe."

“The death of George Floyd traumatized and galvanized the American people — it led to a decisive call for change and an end to systemic police violence against Black men," Bobby DiCello, an attorney for the Tyson family, said in a prepared statement released Friday.

"It’s an unimaginable tragedy, that only four years later history repeats itself. Why tackle him? Why kneel on him? How could you know he lost consciousness and then do nothing? These questions demand answers. And so, we will get those answers for Frank and the whole Tyson family in this time of pain, grief, and disbelief."

Tyson, 53, of Canton Township died April 18 during the encounter with police. He had earlier crashed his car, shearing off a utility pole, and entered the nearby private AMVETS club and was acting erratically, authorities said.

Two police officers got into a scuffle as they tried to remove Tyson from the club on Sherrick Road SE. Tyson, who was taken to the floor, yelled, "They're trying to kill me," as officers fought with him. He also had told people at the club that someone was trying to kill him before officers arrived.

Police body camera footage released Wednesday by the city shows Tyson, with his arms handcuffed behind his back, on the floor face down for nearly 8 minutes before an officer realized he couldn't feel a pulse. He took the handcuffs off; and he and another officer applied chest compressions for several minutes.

Tyson was subsequently treated by Canton Fire Department paramedics, who took him to Aultman Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Tyson’s family is being represented by DiCello Levitt attorneys Bobby DiCello, who is based in Cleveland, as well as Ken Abbarno, Joe Fouche III, and Jordyn Parks.

Expert questions Canton police response used on Frank Tyson

An expert on law enforcement's use of force is questioning the way police officers treated Tyson.

Kalfani N. Ture, a former police officer and assistant professor of criminal justice and African American studies at Widener University, said officers should not have left Tyson face down on the floor for so long after they handcuffed his arms behind his back.

He said that creates the potential for Tyson to suffocate due to the position of his body, a condition known as positional asphyxiation.

“It takes less than 6 minutes for a life to expire in the context of a positional asphyxiation situation," Ture said.  

What is positional asphyxiation?

Ture, a former city, state and county law enforcement officer, said police are trained to prevent positional asphyxiation.

“We learned in the police academy, and this is universal," he said. "We all learned about positional asphyxiation. The chest cannot expand against a hard, flat structure. Ourstomach and our thoracic cavity expands forward, and if you are in aprone position against a hard structure, you're going to suffocate. You're going to asphyxiate. We are trained that once you secure the person in handcuffs, you immediately sit them up in aresting position."

Ture, who trains New York City police officers in addition to his work at Widener, located near Philadelphia, said the responding officers were indifferent to Tyson's condition, with one telling him to "calm down."

“Well, you have this gentleman in restraints. He is not kicking. He's trying to lift up ..., just to breathe," Ture said.

The U.S. Department of Justice advises law enforcement about positional asphyxia in a June 1995 fact sheet.

"The cause of most explained in-custody deaths is a little-known phenomenon called positional asphyxia, in which body position interferes with the ability to breathe," says the advisory from the National Institute of Justice, the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The federal agency advises officers to "remove the subject from their stomach as soon as they are handcuffed" and monitor them carefully.

Canton police have turned the investigation of Tyson's death over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch have been placed on administrative leave. The Stark County Coroner's Office sent Tyson's body to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. The cause of death has not been released.

Ture said the gurgling noises Tyson made while lying on his stomach sounded similar to those made by Floyd, a Black man murdered by a police officer during an arrest May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis.

Reaction to Frank Tyson's death at the hands of Canton police

Tyson’s niece, Jasmine Tyson, told Canton Repository news partner NewsChannel 5 that she watched the video with police. 

“He said that he didn't want to die,” she said. “He was like, ‘Call the sheriff,’ and then when they finally got him down, he said that he couldn’t breathe.” 

Jasmine Tyson said her uncle was released from a 24-year prison sentence two weeks ago. They didn’t get a chance to visit yet. 

“We just kept saying we are going to see each other, we are going to see each other,” she added. 

Considering that an officer first checked her uncle's pulse after he had been on the floor for 5 minutes, she said, “It just seemed like forever that they finally checked him, and they checked him I swear the officer knew he was gone; that’s why he hurried up and had to call something,” Jasmine Tyson added. 

“I just hope BCI takes their time watching this because every inch and every time of that video needs to be played at the bar; that’s what they need to see,” she said. "It’s crazy, it’s nonsense.” 

Stark County chapter of the NAACP posted a message on its Facebook page Friday, saying the civil rights organization is "in the fight!"

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family Mr. Tyson," the message says. "We are monitoring this situation closely and helping where we can. We have oversight from our State NAACP and National. We're in the fight!"

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.