Dravon Ames thought he would be dead if it weren’t for the cameras.
He said he feared for his life and the safety of his family as Phoenix police allegedly pointed a gun in his face and threatened to shoot him during their May 27 encounter with police in an apartment complex parking lot.
He couldn’t help his six-month pregnant fiancee, Iesha Harper, as he followed an officer’s order to lie face down on the hot pavement. He thought at least his death would mean something when he saw bystanders filming, Ames told The Arizona Republic during the couple’s first extended interview Monday.
‘It can happen to anybody’
Ames and Harper have maintained the police report is full of lies and omissions.
Attorney Sandra Slayton said during a media briefing Monday that the “barbaric actions” of the officers still aren’t justified, even if everything written in the report were true.
The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who represents the family, urged Gallego and Williams to change policy and fire Meyer and the other officers involved.
The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) is also calling for the officers to be fired.
“This incident is just the latest in a disturbing trend emanating from Phoenix Police Department,” Imraan Siddiqi, CAIR-AZ executive director, said in a statement. “There are clearly systemic issues at play here, ones that will not be solved merely through an apology. Marginalized communities have continuously been the target of disproportionate force by police, therefore drastic steps need to be taken to ensure that this will not happen in the future.”
