[Eternally Solo]

MEGAN JOYCE MOHN

According to police records, an investigation into Megan Joyce Mohn, 40, began on January 11 at 3:13 a.m.

A security guard for Marathon Petroleum’s Salt Lake City refinery notified SLCPD of a woman, later identified as Mohn, who was “walking in circles carrying a piece of rebar in the intersection of 400 West 900 North.”

Mohn was located by officers at 3:30 a.m. and taken into custody shortly thereafter. SLCPD records state that while in custody, Mohn refused to give officers her name and was “screaming randomly” and kicking. As a result, officers allegedly applied a leg restraint.

In the videos provided by SLCPD from January 11, Mohn can be heard yelling “help me” as an officer kneels on her and places her in the leg restraint. Body camera footage was provided from three of the four responding officers. The first officer at the scene did not have a body camera and thus that footage was not provided.

Another officer allegedly noticed Mohn breathing while in the position, though she remained unresponsive. Despite officers numerous attempts to elicit a reaction from Mohn, she allegedly continued to be unresponsive, to which officers decided to remove her from all restraints.

Footage shows police asking Mohn several times what her name is as she is handcuffed and sitting on the ground. In the video, Mohn would not give her name and tries to get away from officers while screaming for help several times and saying: "I don't want to die."

“Ultimately, he caused her death,” said former Salt Lake City Police chief Chris Burbank. “That interaction caused the death of that woman.”

After Mohn continued to not give her name, officers cut off her backpack and moved her to her stomach, at which point she began to kick them, footage shows. She continues screaming for help.

“What entitled you to do that to someone’s possession?” said Burbank. “There’s nothing under the authority of law that allows them to damage her property.”

Officers then handcuffed her feet and applied leg restraints when they noticed she stopped yelling and resisting.
Mohn became unresponsive at that point, police said, and officers began administering first aid. When she was still unresponsive, officers began CPR and Mohn was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why are we there? Why are we there? Why is it necessary to do it?’” said Burbank. “In this circumstance, it was not.”

At the hospital, officers were told by medical staff that the woman's condition was improving and that she was expected to recover. On Jan. 28, just over two weeks after her arrest, Mohn was moved to the intensive care unit and died two days later.

“It’s revolting. We’re disgusted by it, but we’re also not surprised,” said Adrian Lambrinos with the Salt Lake City branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, an organization that has hosted many protests and events calling for a stop to police brutality.

“What we see in the video when they arrive, they’re already trying to establish a motive for themselves to place her under arrest by getting identification,” he said. “They’re more concerned about that than they are helping the woman.”
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said in a statement that the investigation is ongoing.

“The Salt Lake City Police Department expresses its condolences to Ms. Mohn’s family," the statement reads. "Ensuring we have a comprehensive investigation into this matter is critical. This case involves many complex factors. I look forward to the full report of the officer-involved-critical-incident and our department’s internal affairs investigation. Our officers work tirelessly every day to live up to the expectations of our community and to fulfill their duties as police officers and public servants. I know they are committed to their jobs and have a strong dedication to our community.”
Officer-involved critical incident protocol was activated on July 29, the day after the medical examiner's report ruled the death a homicide.

Burbank said launching an investigation half a year later shows a lack of accountability.
“It’s a leadership issue,” he said. “If we’re waiting this long to review a circumstance like this and say, ‘Hey, there’s a problem,’ how many times between then and now have officers engaged in similar behavior?”

Megan’s Obituary

[Moon]

It did not look like the officers were putting that much pressure on her back to cause her death to me. Is it a combination of the stress of being restrained (even slightly) and the drugs she was on that caused her death?
I have seen many other police restraint videos where they were putting much more pressure on a person, and they did not die.

[Eternally Solo]

Originally Posted by Moon ↗

It did not look like the officers were putting that much pressure on her back to cause her death to me. Is it a combination of the stress of being restrained (even slightly) and the drugs she was on that caused her death?
I have seen many other police restraint videos where they were putting much more pressure on a person, and they did not die.

“According to the medical examiner’s findings, Ms. Mohn’s immediate cause of death was ‘anoxic brain injury’ due to ‘cardiac arrest’ due to ‘probable methamphetamine intoxication in the setting of an altercation involving physical restraint.”