Police crush, kill man begging for his life, screaming he was suffocating until his ears turned blue

Robert Minjarez Jr. with his mother

Robert Minjarez Jr. with his mother

Some are calling Robert Minjarez Jr. the Latino Eric Garner. Sadly, the comparison is uncanny—including the failure of the system to indict the officers who killed Minjarez.

For about five minutes, the report said, Minjarez is heard on dashcam audio screaming, "Help! Help! Help me! Get off! You're going to kill me!" The report also quotes him as saying "You're going to suffocate..." and "I can't breathe" three times. He cried and screamed, his voice becoming "increasingly muffled, hoarse and strained" while repeating "I can't breathe," the report added.

About five minutes after he was restrained, the report said, Minjarez groaned and gurgled, and an officer said, "You got 265 pounds on your back, you're not going anywhere." The suspect groaned "and no more sounds are heard from him," the report said.

The report from the Lafayette, Louisiana, coroner lists the cause of death as "compressional asphyxia due to face-down physical restraint by law enforcement officers."

As was the case with the officers who killed Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, the grand jury proceedings in this case are sealed and prosecutors are not obligated to say a single word.

According to a local newspaper:

Minjarez was taken to the hospital by ambulance and EMS reported he "had blue ears and was not breathing initially." He remained in intensive care until declared brain dead and was declared dead on March 7, 2014.

How is this okay? Police must be held responsible for their behaviors and actions that lead to the deaths of the men and women they actually swore to protect.