22 People Died Being Held Face-Down By Police In CA Since 2016: Report

At least 22 people died in California after being restrained on their stomachs by police between 2016 and 2022, according to a recent analysis of use-of-force data by several media outlets.

The analysis — from the Guardian, the California Newsroom and the California Reporting Project — found 19 of the victims tested positive for meth and two were armed, although they did not have guns.

Five of the deaths happened after George Floyd’s killing in May 2020 and two died following the implementation in 2022 of Assembly Bill 490, which bans maneuvers that could cause risk of positional asphyxia, the Guardian reported. Nearly half the victims were Latino and the next-largest percentage were white, according to the publication.

Among them was Edward Bronstein, 38, who died March 31, 2020, of “acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.”

A nearly 18-minute video showing his final moments and released by his family begins with Bronstein handcuffed and kneeling while refusing to submit to a blood test after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on the Golden State (5) Freeway in Los Angeles. An off-camera officer warns him that he has one more chance to submit voluntarily before officers hold him down to draw his blood.

"This is wrong," Bronstein mumbles in the video.

"You're bringing the fight to this, not us," an officer tells him.

"Just give me a minute, OK? Please," Bronstein asks.

As several officers push him to the ground, Bronstein begins screaming. "Please no! I'll do it willingly. I'll do it willingly! I'll do it willingly! I promise."

Officers hold him down to the ground, and at least two in the video appear to use a knee to pin him down.

That's when Bronstein starts screaming, "I can't breathe!" He's loud at first, but then his voice grows fainter each time he yells it.

"Stop yelling," one of the officers responds.

It was three years before the California Highway Patrol officers who held Bronstein down were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

They are Sgt. Michael Little and Officers Dionisio Fiorella, Dustin Osmanson, Darren Parsons, Diego Romero, Justin Silva and Marciel Terry. A registered nurse, Arbi Baghalian, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Bronstein's death prompted the CHP to change its policies to prevent officers “from using techniques or transport methods that involve a substantial risk of positional asphyxia,” the agency said. Additional training was also ordered for uniformed officers.

In September 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 490, which bars police from using certain face-down holds that have led to multiple unintended deaths. The bill was aimed at expanding on the state’s ban on chokeholds in the wake of Floyd’s murder.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Bronstein's parents and his four children alleges excessive force, negligence, assault and battery, conspiracy, wrongful death, violations of Bronstein's civil rights and failure to provide medical care.