How Tucson police handled a death like George Floyd’s when leaders thought it would never happen

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Leaders of the Tucson Police Department had heard a little about the video. Now, for the first time, they would judge for themselves how grim it was.

As the top brass gathered in a conference room at headquarters, Tucson was, like much of America, protesting the killing of George Floyd. It was June 2020. This body-camera footage could be the tipping point.

The video started. It was nighttime. Three officers strode up to a modest home. A 66-year-old grandmother had called 911 after her 27-year-old grandson became aggressive.

Carlos Adrian Ingram Lopez was naked and high on cocaine when the officers confronted him in the house’s cramped, unlit garage. One officer told him to get on the ground and he did, a flashlight briefly showing him on all fours.

In the darkness on screen, the sound popped out. Ingram Lopez wailed, pleaded, apologized as officers cuffed his hands behind his back.

There was a heaviness in the conference room. The body language around the table was bad, the reluctance to talk telling.

The footage was not done, but the chief and his team didn’t need to see any more, not right then. They all knew how this ended.

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