Darnell Benson

On April 3, 2015, Darnell Benson was taken into police custody after a 911 call reported him threatening to jump from a stranger’s balcony (later determined to be just four feet off the ground). Less than three hours later, after being handcuffed, shackled, hogtied, beaten and covered with two spit masks, he was admitted to San Francisco General Hospital ICU with a loss of brain function. He died three days later.

San Francisco police escorted Benson off the balcony, and the apartment dweller declined to press charges for trespassing. That should have been the end of the story. Instead, he was arrested for an outstanding warrant for a “traffic incident,” Benson was handcuffed and taken to the police station for booking and then on to County Jail. There, it was determined Benson might be suicidal and therefore needed to be transported to San Franciso General Hospital.

When Benson resisted a third transportation, he was tackled, handcuffed and shackled by four deputies inside the jail area. When he resisted entering the squad car, he was again tackled, rolled onto his stomach, and punched as he spit up blood. By the time an ambulance arrived, Benson was no longer combative. Despite the fact that he was already unresponsive, the maximum dose of a sedative was administered before proceeding to the hospital. Benson was given a 5mg injection of the powerful sedative, Versed, twice the 2.5 mg dose specified for use on agitated patients under the city’s policy at the time, according to an NBC Bay Area News report.

While in the ambulance, Benson’s respiratory rate and pulse decreased, and artificial respiration was initiated. Inside the hospital, it was determined that Benson had suffered cardiac arrest and a very severe anoxic brain injury (lack of oxygen to brain) and that he was in a coma. Maintained on life support for three days, Benson’s life was prolonged only for organ harvesting, not for care or recovery. Three days later, he was declared dead.

What is the primary cause of Darnell’s death? The Medical Examiner concluded that the various bruises indicating blunt force trauma that he observed—including on the side of Benson’s face, on his arms, wrists, the back of his right thigh, his left calf, and his torso—were consistent with police force. Yet, blaming the victim, the official autopsy determined that Benson’s death was caused by “complications of acute methamphetamine and cocaine intoxication.” The Medical Examiner ignored the evidence of blunt force trauma, positional asphyxia from hogtying and the dangerous sedative overdose; none were listed as contributing factors.

Benson’s family was denied timely access to the police incident report and the jail footage that captured officers’ handling of Benson at San Francisco County Jail. The DA’s three-year “investigation” whitewashed the truth and protected those responsible for Darnell’s death. None of the video has yet been released. The killing of Darnell Benson—a father, brother, and a devout Muslim—is not a closed case. It is an ongoing injustice, and his name belongs in every record of those who died in custody at the hands of law enforcement.

His brother Derrick Benson—an OPA endorser—is now Community and Family Resource Coordinator for the Oakland-based Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP), supporting families of other victims of cop terror.

At least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained by police in the U.S. from 2012 through 2021, according to an Associated Press (AP) study. That's nearly one out of ten of the more than 1,000 deaths AP identified of victims subdued by police with supposedly “non-fatal” force.

In the name of Derrick Benson and all of Darnell’s family we demand all the relevant archives about his death. This includes footage of the restraint and beatings of Benson inside and outside the jail, personnel records of the 20 police and sheriff’s deputies as well as the EMT personnel, all police, EMT and medical reports, records of all phone calls and emails among the cops along with all audio and video recordings concerning the incident! Justice for Darnell Benson!