Is A&E enabling police brutality? That’s what investigators are looking into after a Black Texas man died following a dramatic police chase, while Live PD cameras captured the whole thing.
According to reports, Javier Ambler II was driving home from a poker game in the early hours of March 28, 2019 when a Williamson County sheriff’s deputy noticed he didn’t dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic.
After a 22-minute chase, Ambler smashed his Honda Pilot north of downtown Austin at 1:45 in the morning. Deputy J.J. Johnson, who is regularly featured on Live PD, drew his gun and ordered the father-of-two to get out of his car, raise his hands, and get on the ground.
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Ambler, a 400-pound football player, reportedly exited the vehicle and showed his hands. Johnson, who is Black and much smaller than Ambler, pulled out his taser, ordering the driver to “get down. After Ambler appeared to turn toward his car door, Johnson reportedly used his taser. Ambler fell on one knee, rolled onto his back and stomach, and acted as if he was trying to stand up.
Backup Deputy Zachary Camden, who is white and was also with a Live PD crew that night, arrived at the scene and shoved his taser into Ambler’s upper back “in a drive-stun motion.” As the struggle continued, the cops used a taser on the man a third time, but the report didn’t say which deputy used the weapon.
Body camera footage captured what would be the final moments of Ambler’s life, showing deputies yell at him to lay on his stomach and put his hands behind his back. Ambler pleads to them:
“I have congestive heart failure. I have congestive heart failure. I can’t breathe.”
The deputies respond by screaming commands, as Ambler tells them between gasps that he’s trying to follow their orders. He continues:
“I am not resisting. Sir, I can’t breathe… Please… Please.”
The deputies are at this point on top of the Texas man and yelling at him to put his arms behind his back. He begs:
“Save me.”
To which a deputy replies:
“Do what we’re asking you to do!”
Ambler responds by saying, “I can’t,” before one of the deputies deploys his taser a fourth and final time at 1:47 a.m.. Ambler’s hands go limp, and the cops cuff him — then, moments later, they realize he was unconscious and his pulse had stopped.
Per reports, cops performed CPR on the 40-year-old former postal worker for four minutes until medics arrived. He was pronounced dead at 2:37 a.m. — and cameras from A&E’s reality show were reportedly filming the whole time.
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Although Ambler’s death never made headlines at the time, police recently caved to months of pressure from local press and have released documents and video that shed light on the fatal night.
The details of Ambler’s deadly encounter with Williamson County deputies also bring scrutiny on the department’s relationship with the reality TV show. Critics argue that the presence of tv cameras causes deputies to police dramatically for the sake of good reality television as opposed to actual public safety.
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore told press:
“It is of very serious concern to any of us who are in law enforcement that the decision to engage in that chase was driven by more of a need to provide entertainment than to keep Williamson County citizens safe.”
Moore’s civil rights division is still investigating the incident, and plans to present the case to a grand jury. Investigators say Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and Live PD producers have repeatedly blocked their requests to get evidence or interview the officers involved.
A&E, for its part, did not air new episodes of Live PD over the weekend. The network announced last week that the eps were pulled from programming in the wake of George Floyd’s death, and that episodes of the spin-off Live Rescue, which follows emergency rescue units and fire departments, will play in its place.
A rep for A&E said:
“Out of respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives, in consultation with the departments we follow, and in consideration for the safety of all involved, we have made the decision not to broadcast Live PD this weekend.”
Thoughts??
[Image via A&E]
