Three police officers, whose fatal confrontation with a man in a northern California park last year led to comparisons with the killing of George Floyd, are in a criminal investigation, officials said Thursday.
A 40-page report from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the officers’ decision to detain and arrest Mario Gonzalez, 26, at Alameda Park on April 19, 2021, was “objectively reasonable,” the city of Alameda said in a statement.
The statement said the officers’ use of force was also reasonable “given the agency’s policies, and the entirety of the circumstances and rationale declared by the officers.”
“Mr. Gonzalez did not die of suffocation nor did he complain to the officers about his inability to breathe.
In its statement, Alameda officials called Gonzalez’s death “tragic” and said the three officers will remain on paid administrative leave while an independent investigation continues in the city.
In a statement released Thursday, lawyers for the Gonzales family called the report “disgraceful” and said it was still rare for police “who kill unarmed black people in this country to ever face criminal consequences.” The only people who hold officers who commit these crimes to account are Usually the families of the victims, in federal civil rights cases.”
The family’s attorney, Julia Sherwin, said earlier that what killed Gonzalez “was that Alameda police officers forced him into the dirt, put the weight of their bodies on him and immobilized him.”
In December, Gonzalez’s death was ruled a murder, and the local coroner’s office attributed his death to the “toxic effects of methamphetamine.” The official said the stress of confrontation combined with alcoholism and morbid obesity contributed to his death.
The encounter began when officers were called to a park after two reports of a man who appeared to be under the influence and suspected of a possible robbery. This was followed by a physical confrontation recorded with a body camera that showed an officer placing his elbow on Gonzalez’s neck and another apparently placing his knee on his back.
Gonzalez gasping could be heard saying, “I didn’t do anything, okay?”
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