Ohio police charged in Frank Tyson’s death

November 3, 2024

Tyson told police he couldn’t breathe when one of the officers knelt on his neck.

Two Canton, Ohio, police officers were charged with negligent homicide on November 2 in the death of a 53-year-old black man named Frank E. Tyson, who died on April 18. knee on Tyson’s neck.

According to NBC Newstwo 24-year-old officers, Camden Burch and Bo Schenigge maybe face up up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of a third-degree felony.

After Stark County District Attorney Kyle L. Stone presented the results of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s grand jury investigation into Tyson’s cause of death, which concluded in August with a manslaughter charge.

This did not sit well with the president of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, Craig M. Riley, who seemed to accuse Stone of politics as part of a sprawling application to the Cantonese repository.

“Real progress,” Riley told the paper, “comes from collaboration, investment and open communication, not from using our officers as timely scapegoats to score political points.”

According to the body camera footage, Tyson was screaming loudly that the police were trying to kill him as they tackled him to the ground. As Tyson complained that he couldn’t breathe, one officer told him he was fine and to “shut up,” and shortly thereafter, Tyson fell silent for the last time.

Tyson’s death has drawn comparisons to the 2020 killing of George Floyd, mainly because he said he couldn’t breathe and an officer knelt on his neck.

According to the newspaper, black community leaders in Canton were concerned that the Canton Police Department was mistreating its black citizens.

Thomas West, executive director of the Urban League of Greater Stark County, said in a Nov. 2 media statement that he hopes Tyson gets justice.

“We now call on the justice system to act quickly and bring those responsible for this tragic death to justice,” he said. “This incident, along with several others that have followed it, highlights a troubling trend — one that suggests some law enforcement agencies believe they are above the law,” West said.

West continued, “While the initial arrest of the officers involved was a necessary first step, it is imperative that the firing of the officers involved and prosecution follow to send a clear message that this behavior will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law.”