Independent autopsy: Black Man Died from Multiple Blows During 10 Minute Beating by Riverside Police - 'his brain was a jar of jelly'

From [HERE] An autopsy found that a Black man who died after a struggle with Riverside police had a boot print on his chest and died from multiple blows and kicks to his head and body, his family’s attorneys said Tuesday, Oct. 22. Raymond Johnson, 41, of Moreno Valley, was pronounced dead shortly after officers in Moreno Valley tried to pull him from his car in the parking lot of a Burger King. A bystander video shows officers repeatedly striking and kicking him.

About a dozen of Johnson’s family members gathered Tuesday in Los Angeles to announce plans to file a wrongful death claim and lawsuit against the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the six to eight officers involved in the arrest. The department provides police services to Moreno Valley.

One of the family’s three attorneys, Rickie Ivie, said an independent autopsy showed severe blunt-force trauma to his head and injuries from multiple punches and kicks delivered by officers during a 10-minute beating on Oct. 11. Officers also used a Taser and pepper spray on Johnson.

Ivie said the autopsy showed Johnson's brain was “a jar of jelly” as a result of being hit multiple times.

“The real issue is (white supremacy/racism) we don't need to kill someone who is unarmed in order to take them into custody,” Ivie said. “It was not justified to use lethal force. There is no difference between shooting someone and bashing someone's head in.”

Riverside County sheriff's Chief Deputy Patty Knudson (in photo) said the county coroner's autopsy conducted last week did not show that Johnson died from head injuries or blunt-force trauma. She said a cause of death is still undetermined, pending toxicology results.

“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is committed to conducting a full and fair investigation, and we invite the results of the independent autopsy to be shared with the Central Homicide Unit investigators,” Knudson said.