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The upcoming episode of NBC Dateline is ready to dive into the gruesome murder of Anton Black, another African-American victim of the much-feared police brutality in America. The 19-year-old teenager was allegedly fighting with a young boy when a passerby reported him out of concern for the younger boy, who they thought was being harassed. What followed was as bad as things can get for a Black person in modern-day America.
In a similar fashion to George Floyd's death, which shook the world, Anton was allegedly suffocated to death by three police officers and one Confederate motorcycle helmet-wearing civilian, all of whom were White. Witnesses claimed that the teenager went unconscious after police secured leg shackles around his ankles. Webster, one of the cops involved in the process, already had a history of racism.
Black’s family later filed a federal lawsuit. Read on for more details about Anton Black's murder.
Who was Anton Black and how did he die?
Anton Black was a 19-year-old Maryland resident who was a former high school football and track star. He also suffered from a series of mental health conditions, including recently diagnosed schizophrenia.
On September 15, 2018, a man and a woman were driving by a rural country road next to the Choptank River Bridge in Greenboro when they witnessed a teenager picking on a younger boy. Though the woman was immediately concerned, her fiance dismissed it until he saw the older boy slam the younger boy to the ground in his rearview mirror.
The couple stopped over and tried to allegedly break up the fight, but when Anton Black continued giving a blank stare at the couple, the woman called 911. Soon, Greensboro Police Officer Thomas Webster IV, an infamous officer for his treatment of African-Americans in the past, made his way to the scene.
He was soon joined by two off-duty cops, an off-duty firefighter, and a civilian on a motorcycle. Black allegedly jogged over to his family home and got into a car. Webster reportedly smashed the car window with his baton and proceeded to use a stun gun on him.
A while later, all of them tried to restrain Anton Black in front of his family porch. Eyewitnesses described the effort as "collaborative." The four men allegedly pinned him down for a long period of time, ultimately resulting in the teen losing consciousness when the police were trying to shackle his feet. Ridgely, Md., Police Chief Gary Manos commanded, "Let’s prone him out."
The officers allegedly pressed his face, chest, and stomach to the ground for six minutes, causing him to die from positional asphyxiation. The state medical examiner, David Fowler, allegedly ruled Anton Black's death as "undetermined" rather than a homicide, stopping the family from pursuing legal action right away.
Black's family later filed a federal lawsuit. It read:
"Anton Black died because police employed excessive force, laying him out prone on his stomach, lying on top of him for approximately six minutes and approximately five minutes after he was handcuffed, and folding his legs towards the sky in a manner that further compromised his ability to breathe,"
Sadly, Anton's death was one of the many deaths from police brutality that did not make national headlines. NBC Dateline will attempt to fix this in its upcoming episode on August 5, 2022.
