A Florida newspaper reports that video of a mentally ill man’s violent death in a county jail contradicts the sheriff office’s narrative of what happened. But the public may never get to see what really happened.
Florida Circuit Judge James R. Baxley ruled last month that the Ocala Gazette could view, but not publish, jailhouse footage of the 2022 death of Scott Whitley, a mentally ill man who died in the Marion County Jail after deputies pepper-sprayed, dogpiled, and tased him. Publishing the footage, Baxley ruled, would raise safety concerns.
The Gazette reported on September 25, after finally being able to view the footage, that Whitley “exhibited no physical violence toward Marion County Jail detention deputies before he was rushed to the floor, restrained and hit with a Taser 27 times over 12 minutes.” Furthermore, “Contrary to initial reports from the sheriff’s office that claimed Whitley refused to comply with guards’ orders, the footage shows the inmate sitting as ordered and, when he sees the guards rush towards him, he raises his hands in defense and pleads ‘no’ and ‘wait’—to no avail.”