Crump Demands Video of the Government's Murder of Charles Adair, a Black Man in a Wheel Chair Crushed to Death by Wyandotte County Prison Cops as He Begged For Life. Held Pre-Trial for Traffic Charge

From [HERE] Attorney Ben Crump likened the death of a Wyandotte County inmate he saw on video for the first time Tuesday to that of George Floyd.

“When you all get to see that video you are going to be as shocked as anybody who saw the George Floyd video,” Crump said at a news conference Tuesday night at Kansas City’s Friendship Baptist Church flanked by several members of Charles Adair’s family.

Wyandotte County Deputy Richard Fatherley is charged with second-degree murder for Adair’s death. If the case goes to a jury trial, it could also be presented an option to consider charges in the alternative of involuntary manslaughter.

Adair died while in custody at the Wyandotte County Detention Center July 5, a day after he was jailed for outstanding traffic violations.

Crump and the other family attorneys Harry Daniels and Sue-Ann Robinson said watching the video was both horrifying and heartbreaking. Adair was Black. The attorneys say the deputy seen on video is white.

“Because of the color of your skin a traffic violation should not equal a death sentence,” Crump said.

Family, who have not yet been able to view the video, say Adair was a 50-year-old diabetic in a wheelchair facing amputation of his leg.

According to Crump and Daniels, Adair got into a confrontation with the person wheeling him back to his cell and deputies placed him face down on his bed. They say he still had his handcuffs on but deputies were trying to remove them. That’s when they say Deputy Fatherley kneeled on Adair’s back for one minute and twenty-four seconds.

“When Charles was trying to survive as anybody would do he doubled down and put more body weight on him,” Daniels said.

Crump pointed out Fatherley had his knee on Adair for just four seconds less than Floyd had on his neck.

“When a human being is crying out for help, why would you keep your knee on him with your full body weight that caused his ribs to be crushed?” Crump asked.

The hour long news conference included chants of “be fair for Charles Adair” and “show the video”

“Aint that what body cameras are for? So it can be transparent? It shouldn’t just be lawyers and law enforcement seeing the video. No, the public needs to see the video,” Crump said.

Daniels said after seeing the video he believed without a doubt the deputy should have been arrested. Fatherley was issued a summons to appear in court on the second-degree murder charge in November. 

Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said at a news conference last week he issued the summons because he did not consider Fatherley to be a flight risk.