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Bodycam footage released Tuesday revealed the final moments of Kenneth Knotts, a 41-year-old man who died in police custody at a Dallas, Texas hospital in 2022. Knotts had been taken by police for a mental health evaluation at UT Southwestern Medical Center following a traffic stop on November 29, 2022. He was reportedly ‘acting erratically, combative and spitting,’ and told police he was fleeing Austin because he thought the police were trying to kill him. After being taken for evaluation, Knotts’ condition deteriorated. He asked for water and juice, however staff refused as they feared for their safety. The bodycam footage shows the police rolling him onto his front to restrain him, with Knotts repeatedly shouting ‘I can’t breathe.’ Moments later, he convulsed and was dead. Officials said that the cause of death could not be determined; however, a medical examiner, upon viewing the footage, ruled the death was a homicide, attributing it to a sudden cardiac arrest due to his method of restraint. A grand jury disagreed and did not indict any of the police officers or hospital staff over the death.
