OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The community came together, marching from the Old Market to OPD headquarters for a vigil, remembering Edward Henry just hours after OPD released new information about the arrest Tuesday.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"This means more to me than you all could ever know because I didn't even know that my uncle would have this much effect on these many people that I don't know. But it's not just about us; we are all in this together. It could be you," said Steven Henry, Edward Henry's nephew.
Family and others are looking for more transparency and accountability.
This comes just hours after Omaha Chief of Police Todd Schmaderer confirmed an autopsy Thursday morning showed Edward Henry died of a heart attack.
Releasing body camera footage this quickly is not standard, but Schmaderer emphasized the importance of transparency.
"Under an emergency exception, given everything that has been going on in our community with some tensions as of late, and because there are citizen videos out there that could be confusing unless you see the whole context. Under an emergency provision I am allowing these videos to be shown to the public and what you see there is fairly exhaustive of our entire investigation," Schmaderer said.
Angles of the arrest, Schmaderer says, are not visible in circulating social media videos. They show what OPD says is a high-risk traffic stop on Tuesday afternoon.
We see Henry pulled from a police car to have his handcuffs switched for the transport.
OPD says Henry became agitated, even hearing him say, "I’m telling you, it hurts."
OPD says they gave him verbal commands to get on the ground.
Another camera shows Henry gripping the bars of the cruiser window, and an officer striking his forearm area.
Henry is eventually taken to the ground—handcuffed and brought to his feet in about 30 seconds.
"Omaha police officers did not discernibly contribute to Mr. Henry's death, Omaha police officer's actions with Mr. Henry was in accordance with our policy, procedures, and training," Schmaderer said.
