Tamika Mallory Joins Friday March For Man Paralyzed In Cop Custody

NEW HAVEN, CT —A "Justice for Randy Cox," march to call attention to the Richard "Randy" Cox case will step off Friday at 5 p.m.

The rain or shine march, coordinated by the CT NAACP, the New Haven NAACP, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Cox family, will include activist Tamika D. Mallory. She wrote on her Instagram account, which has more than 1 million followers, "Have you heard what happened to Randy Cox?"

Mallory, a 2017 Women's March organizer, was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people that year.

The march begins at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, at 197 Dixwell Ave. to New Haven Police Department headquarters, at 1 Union Ave.

"As Randy Cox continues to fight for his life and future, we will fight for justice for him"

At the time, then-Acting police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle last week said officer Ronald Pressley, officer Jocelyn Lavandier, and officer Luis Rivera, all working at the jail Sunday, join officers Oscar Diaz and Betsy Segui pulled from duty while their conduct is under investigation.

Cox, 36, was arrested June 19 at a Juneteenth block party for allegedly carrying a weapon and other charges. While handcuffed in a police van that did not have seatbelts en route to the police department's detention center, he suffered a serious head injury. Officer Oscar Diaz, driving at around 36 MPH in a 25 MPH zone, stopped short to avoid a crash, which sent Cox flying, slamming head first into the van wall.

A series of "disturbing" and graphic videos from police body-worn cameras, and other video footage, show that police officers ignored Cox's cries that he believed his neck was broken, paralyzing him. They processed him on charges, and then dragged his body into a holding cell.

An ambulance eventually arrived and Cox was rushed to Yale New Haven Hospital. He's paralyzed from the chest down, Crump said, and is on a ventilator and feeding tube.

At the time, then-Acting police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle put five cops on paid leave — Diaz, Betsy Segui, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera —as Connecticut State Police took over the investigation into police conduct.

"Help me. I don't want to die like this."

When the police van arrives at the detention facility for Cox to be processed, he is lying limp in the vehicle, video shows. Police said that Diaz had called for an ambulance, but not to arrive at the scene of the near-crash, but rather at police headquarters, which is a several minute drive away.

The officers waiting for the van in the sally port assemble to get Cox out of the van, the video shows. Diaz says he thinks Cox may be hurt. And Cox can be heard, softly asking for help."Help me. I don't want to die like this."

But according to the video, instead of helping, Segui barks orders at the man who is not moving. She shouts: "Sit up! You're not even trying! Turn your body. Sit up, stretch out! Come on, or we're gonna pull you out. You drank too much! Sit up!"

Officers drag Cox out of the van and try to hold him up, but he falls to the ground, and then they put him in a wheelchair, so he can be processed for the charges he faces. In the wheelchair, he slides down to the floor: "I think my neck is broken," he can be heard telling cops. They pull trying to move him back into the chair, ignoring his pleas. On the floor, he's dragged to a cell by two officers and left on the ground with ankle cuffs placed on him, the video shows.

Segui can be heard saying, "See? He's perfectly fine."

Warning: The video contains graphic images that may be disturbing for readers.

“Randy’s quality of life will forever be diminished by the irresponsible actions of Oscar Diaz and the other New Haven police officers while he was under their custody," Crump said. "Law enforcement respecting every life they interact with and are responsible for is imperative for building trust with the communities they serve, especially communities of color."

The march Friday seeks to "demand justice" for Cox, per the CT and New Haven NAACP chapters.

Crump is working with attorney Jack O’Donnell and the Cox family.

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