CANTON, Ohio (AP) — The death of an Ohio man who died in police custody earlier this year has been ruled a homicide.
The Stark County Coroner’s Office issued its finding Monday on the death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old East Canton resident who died April 18 after he was handcuffed and left face down on the floor of a social club in Canton while telling officers he couldn’t breathe.
The preliminary autopsy report also listed a heart condition and cocaine and alcohol intoxication as contributing causes. The coroner’s office also stressed that its finding does not mean a crime was committed.
Bodycam video released by police showed Tyson resisted while being handcuffed and said repeatedly, “They’re trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff,” as he was taken to the floor.
Tyson, who was Black, was taken into custody shortly after a vehicle crash that had severed a utility pole. Police body-camera footage showed that after a passing motorist directed officers to the bar, a woman opened the door and said: “Please get him out of here, now.”
Police restrained Tyson — including with a knee on his back — and he immediately told officers he could not breathe. Officers told Tyson he was fine, to calm down and to stop fighting as he was handcuffed face down with his legs crossed on the carpeted floor. Police were joking with bystanders and leafing through Tyson’s wallet before realizing he was in a medical crisis.
Five minutes after the body-camera footage recorded Tyson saying “I can’t breathe,” one officer asked another if Tyson had calmed down. The other replied, “He might be out.”
The two Canton officers involved, who are white, remain on paid administrative leave.
Tyson was released from state prison on April 6 after serving 24 years on a kidnapping and theft case and was almost immediately declared a post-release control supervision violator for failing to report to a parole officer, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
FILE - This image, taken from Canton Police body camera video, shows 53-year-old Frank E. Tyson, shortly before he died being handcuffed by police, on April 18, 2024, in Canton, Ohio. (Canton Police Department via AP, File)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people attended an anti-government rally organized by Poland's nationalist conservative opposition party to boost support before next year's presidential election.
Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called on supporters to be active at social and political levels and to back the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. He hasn't yet named the candidate.
Kaczynski also accused the pro-European Union government of acting against the nation’s interests and violating its laws and cited recently opened investigations into allegations of mismanagement and corruption of the Law and Justice government.
Up to 4,000 people with national white-and-red flags gathered for the rally held in windy weather outside the Justice Ministry in Warsaw, which has become a symbol of years of deep rifts between the backers of Kaczynski and Donald Tusk, now the prime minister and leader of the center-right Civic Platform party.
Law and Justice, which governed Poland for nearly a decade from 2015 until 2023, drew criticism from Brussels and Tusk alike for making changes to Poland’s judicial system that were deemed undemocratic.
Many in the nation of 38 million people were also tired of the aggressive and divisive language that Kaczynski, who dictated the government's policies from the sidelines, used to energize support.
The party lost power in the 2023 election, but is still exerting control through President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with Law and Justice. Duda, whose second and last term runs out in August, has been blocking many of the government's draft laws.
Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, left, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet, before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, front, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk attends solemn ceremonies at Westerplatte, on the Baltic Sea, Poland, on Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Wojciech Strozyk)
