The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office released five minutes of video Thursday showing the events leading to the April 21 death of Anthony Johnson Jr., who died in custody at the Tarrant County Jail.
The sheriff, who released the video to reporters at a press conference Thursday afternoon, also announced the firing of detention officer Rafael Moreno and Lt. Joel Garcia.
In the two videos, five minutes long in total, Johnson is first asked to exit his cell on the second floor. One video was security camera footage, the other was cell phone video taken by Garcia.
In the video, Johnson and the jailers get into a physical altercation until jailers restrain him to the floor. Johnson said “I can’t breathe” at least once during the video, during which Moreno kneels on Johnson's back for more than a minute.
Detention officers are trained to not kneel on someone's back if they're already restrained as Johnson was, Waybourn said.
"He was using a technique that, number one, he was not trained to do, and number two, that we do not tolerate, nor do we want done," he said.
Waybourn added Garcia, the supervisor, was fired for not having better control of the situation and stopping Moreno.
The Johnson family was able to view the video prior its release to the press, he said.
Jeremy Sherrod, Regional Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, was at the press conference but said he would not comment on the status of an open investigation.
Once that investigation is complete, it will be referred to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, he said.
Initially the sheriff’s office said Johnson, 31, died after a struggle with detention officers in which he was pepper-sprayed. Sheriff Bill Waybourn later told reporters Johnson had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and said the incident was a sign that more needed to be done to treat mental illness.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Tarrant County medical examiner had not yet released Johnson’s cause of death. Prior to Thursday's release, the county resisted calls from reporters, elected officials and Johnson's family to see video of what transpired.
Jane Bishkin, an attorney with the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, represents at least one fired jailer she said was punished prematurely.
"We don't know what the cause of death was," Bishkin said. "We believe that the sheriff is facing some public scrutiny in this case, and therefore he reacted to that."
That jailer planned to appeal the termination, she said.
CLEAT is also representing two other jailers under investigation for the Johnson death, who were still employed as of Thursday morning, Bishkin added.
Bishkin could not name CLEAT's clients without their permission, she said.
Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who has called repeatedly for the release of the video, reiterated that appeal in a press release Thursday afternoon. She urged her fellow commissioners to make the same demand.
"Clearly, today’s termination of a jail staffer by the Sheriff is indicative of conduct so egregious in the Johnson case that it has warranted at least one termination," she wrote.
Simmons called out Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez in particular, as he represents the Johnson family in his precinct, she said.
Ramirez had not called for release of the video, but has proposed a new policy for the Sheriff's Office detailing when to release information to the public after jail deaths.
In recent years, Tarrant County has paid out at least $1.6 million in legal settlements over jail deaths and alleged mistreatment behind bars. More than 60 people have died in county custody since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in 2017.
An earlier version of this story misidentified an investigating agency. The DPS investigation will be referred to the DA's office, not the sheriff's office.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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