Black Lives Matter representatives in Phoenix are set to hold a press conference regarding the death of a man in police custody earlier this month.
The press conference is set to take place at 7:30 a.m. Monday on the corner of 14th and Jefferson streets where a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march is also set to begin.
Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin, 43, died in police custody earlier this month. According to a media release, his family will be discussing the incident and lack of transparency by Phoenix Police Department in terms of the investigation into his death.
On January 4, officers responded to the Maryvale Community Center near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road after reports of a man acting erratically.
Police say the man refused to leave and had allegedly assaulted an employee. The man was a transient who was well-known to staff members, later identified as Muhaymin.
Phoenix police required several officers to subdue the suspect, who continued to act violently. It took about six to eight officers to get the man restrained.
According to police, Muhaymin began to show signs of medical distress while being transferred and was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. When the man was in handcuffs, he began to throw up. The handcuffs were removed from him and CPR was performed.
The incident in Maryvale is the third Phoenix police in custody death since May 2016.
In May 2016, a man died while in police custody at 3rd Avenue and Osborn Road. More recently, a woman attempted suicide in a police cruiser in October and later died.
