Footage reveals at least 10 Memphis jailers beating a Black inmate who died

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Black man having a psychotic episode died in custody last fall after Memphis jailors punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, according to a video released this week by a Tennessee prosecutor.

The Nashville District Attorney’s Office released video Thursday of Gershun Freeman, 33, at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, news outlets reported.

The video shows Freeman was beaten by at least 10 corrections officers on Oct. 5 after he ran naked from his cell.

Freeman had “psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said in a statement Thursday, citing the medical examiner’s report.

Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing Freeman’s family, said in a statement “he was naked and clearly suffering from a mental health crisis.” He called the death “another shocking example of police brutality” in Memphis.

The city has been roiled by Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating by Memphis police in January. The Black motorist was punched, hit with a baton, kicked, and pepper sprayed during an arrest that was recorded on video. His death led to the firings of the five officers, who have since been charged with seconddegree murder. Crump is also representing Nichols’ family.

Freeman’s manner of death is listed as a homicide in the autopsy report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, although the report says this “is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent.”

In his statement, the Shelby County sheriff said it was unfortunate the video does not show the whole episode. The video has been edited and includes multiple camera angles in different parts of the jail.

The district attorney’s office for Shelby County has brought in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the death. It has asked the Nashville District Attorney General’s Office to act as an independent prosecutor in the case.

Freeman was booked in jail on Oct. 1 on charges of attacking and kidnapping his girlfriend, according to court records.