Georgia man says he couldn’t breathe during Clayton County arrest on video

ATLANTA — A Black man who was pinned down and repeatedly punched by a white Georgia sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop that was caught on video said Friday that he couldn’t breathe and lost consciousness during the arrest.

“I was scared. I feared for my life, and I just pray, just hope that it don’t happen to nobody else,” Roderick Walker told reporters at his lawyer’s office, his left eye still bloodshot.

The deputy seen repeatedly hitting Walker was fired for “excessive use of force,” according to a statement Sunday from the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office. He was later identified as Brandon Myers.

Shean Williams, an attorney for Walker, told reporters Friday that Myers was hired by the sheriff’s office in November 2019. In less than a year, Myers was involved in five other use of force incidents during traffic stops, Williams said.

“He should have been fired before last Friday is my point,” Williams said.

In each of those previous incidents, Myers’ actions were reviewed by a supervisor and found to be in compliance with department policy, according to use of force reports from the sheriff’s office distributed by Williams.

Walker, 26, was released on bond Thursday from the Fulton County jail in Atlanta. He was beaten and arrested after sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Clayton County pulled over a Jeep Grand Cherokee he was riding in on Sept. 11, citing a broken taillight and a front-seat passenger not wearing a seatbelt, according to an incident report.

The arrest, captured on video by a bystander and shared widely, shows two deputies on top of Walker, one of whom repeatedly punches him. Walker’s girlfriend screams and tells the deputies Walker said he can’t breathe. A child in the vehicle yells, “Daddy.”

Juanita Davis/Courtesy of The Cochran Firm via AP In this screen grab from video shot by Juanita Davis and provided by The Cochran Firm, a Clayton County sheriff’s deputy holds down Roderick Walker while another deputy punches him while on the ground Sept. 11 following a traffic stop. Walker suffered a mild traumatic brain injury from being thrown to the ground and beaten and also has blurred double vision in his left eye, as well as injuries to his jaw, arm, back and knees, said Jane Lamberti, another attorney for Walker.