Compelled Video Shows Austin Police Murdering Javier Ambler: White Cops Force Black Man Lying on His Stomach into Cuffs by Pushing His Head Down w/a Knee in His Back as He Begs for Air Until He Dies

From [HERE] and [HERE] Javier Ambler was driving home from a friendly poker game in the early hours of March 28, 2019, when a Williamson County sheriff’s deputy noticed that he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic.

Twenty-eight minutes later, the black father of two sons lay dying on a North Austin street after deputies held him down and used Tasers on him four times while a crew from A&E’s reality show “Live PD” filmed.

Ambler, a 40-year-old former postal worker, repeatedly pleaded for mercy, telling deputies he had congestive heart failure and couldn’t breathe. He cried, “Save me,” before deputies deployed a final shock. He was unarmed.

His death never made headlines. His death was ruled a homicide. A death-in-custody report filed with the Texas attorney general’s office — a procedure required anytime a person dies in police custody — said Ambler did not attempt to, nor did he assault deputies; he did not verbally threaten others nor attempt to get control of any officers’ weapons.

Now, after months of questioning and requests for information from the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, recently released documents and police video shed light on that fatal night at a time when the nation confronts decades of injustice against minorities by law enforcement.

In the body camera footage, at least 4 white officers restrain Ambler on his stomach and attempt to handcuff him. He does not appear to be actively resisting. The white cops are hyped up, excited and treat him violently as their enemy. Deputies yell at Ambler to lay on his stomach and put his hands behind his back. One presses a Taser into his upper back. As they threaten to tase him, Amblers struggles to breathe and repeats, “I have congestive heart failure,” and, “I can’t breathe.” Ambler refers to the officers as “sir” throughout and tells them, “I am not resisting.” Ambler cries. “Sir, I can’t breathe. ... Please. ... Please.” The deputies, who are on top of Ambler, continue yelling at him to put his arms behind his back. He pleads “save me” and gasps for air before officers tase him in the back.

“I’m pretty sure I just broke his finger,” an officer says, pulling Ambler’s arm behind him. After being cuffed, Ambler falls limp.

The deputies’ decisions to chase and repeatedly use their Tasers on a man who simply failed to dim his lights prompts questions about the agency’s practice of pursuing drivers for minor crimes. The officer who initially pulled him was Black. Protocols that Chody put in place on Feb. 28, 2020, say a car chase is justified only when a deputy believes that a person has committed a crime “for which there is an immediate need for apprehension.” Driving with high beams on is a minor traffic violation.

“It is of very serious concern to any of us who are in law enforcement that the decision to engage in that chase was driven by more of a need to provide entertainment than to keep Williamson County citizens safe,” said Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore.

Some 15 months after Ambler’s death, Moore’s civil rights division is still investigating the incident. After questioning from an American-Statesman reporter, she said her office plans to present the case to a grand jury.

Investigators say Chody and “Live PD” producers have repeatedly stonewalled their efforts to obtain evidence or interviews with the officers involved.

Protests have roiled the country since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a black man pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for nearly nine minutes as he lost consciousness and never regained it.

Communities throughout Central Texas have called for police reforms and transparency amid the racial unrest and the recent death of Michael Ramos, an unarmed black Hispanic man killed by Austin police. The details of Ambler’s deadly encounter with Williamson County deputies, which came to light only because of ongoing media pressure, bring intensified focus on the need for accountability among law enforcement agencies.

Ambler’s death also renews scrutiny on a suburban agency that has been under fire for more than a year, largely because of its relationship with the reality TV show.