Less than a year after the restraint that killed George Floyd made international headlines, another man was crying out for air, pinned under the knee of a correctional officer.
William Ahmo, a 45-year-old Anishinaabe man from Sagkeeng First Nation, died on Feb. 14, 2021, seven days after the inmate was shackled, pinned to the ground, placed in a spit hood and strapped into a restraint chair at the Headingley Correctional Centre, a provincial jail west of Winnipeg. Manitoba’s chief medical examiner has deemed Ahmo’s death a homicide.
What happened that February afternoon is now the subject of a criminal trial that began Friday. Robert Jeffrey Morden, who led the tactical team that responded to a destructive Ahmo, has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Free Press has analyzed the nearly 21-minute video, played in court Friday, that shows Ahmo being restrained by correctional officers (COs) and going into medical distress. In it, Ahmo says at least 22 times that he was unable to breathe.
The events shown in the disturbing video took place several hours after Ahmo began causing a disturbance. Ahmo had ripped a water tank fixture from a wall, and thrown it, along with other items, at a reinforced window separating him from correctional staff.
Ahmo became destructive after he’d said a CO had told him a racist joke, the court heard. According to a civil lawsuit filed by Ahmo’s mother earlier this year, the CO had asked Ahmo: “How do you get an Aboriginal mad? Hide his CERB cheque under his work boot.”
A note on the video: One man is primarily heard yelling and giving commands throughout. In some parts, Morden is visible as that speaker. In other parts, he is not visible. Evidence has not yet been presented in court to identify the speaker in every part of the video, however, in court Friday, Morden was identified as the speaker in specific portions.
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0:10 – Ahmo is standing on the second tier of a cell block, shirtless, wearing what appears to be a surgical mask, and holding part of a broken mop handle. The other inmates on the range are in their cells.
0:36 – Morden and other correctional officers, who cannot be seen, are looking at Ahmo from behind glass. “Does anybody have any questions of what’s happening?” asks one CO, likely Morden. “If you have questions, then stay at the back.”
2:56 – Officers fire the first of several chemical projectiles at Ahmo, who is using a garbage bin as a shield.
3:37 – Ahmo walks down the stairs, whacking at correctional officers with the mop handle. He is taken down to the ground by roughly seven COs in riot gear. They are carrying shields and wearing gas masks, helmets, body armour and jackets printed with “CERU.” The Corrections Emergency Response Unit led by Morden. One CO is seen bringing down a long baton a number of times, but it’s not clear from the position of the camera where, or if, he hit Ahmo.
As the COs pile onto Ahmo, who is on his stomach on the ground, banging can be heard in the background – likely other inmates hitting items on their cell doors in protest. Ahmo is handcuffed.
4:27 – A CO yells out repeatedly for shackles, which, about a minute later, are visible on Ahmo’s ankles.
6:03 – The COs either pull, drag or carry – it’s not clear from the video – Ahmo out of the cell block and into what appears to be a sally port. Inside the sallyport, several officers pin Ahmo to the ground, again on his stomach, with at least one shin-pinning Ahmo with a knee across his upper back.
A CO, likely Morden, yells out: “Guys! Take a break here, take a minute, we’re good!”
A different CO calls out, “Can we get the chair?”
7:10 – For the first time – or, the first audible time – Ahmo says: “I can’t breathe.”
“Do not resist!” yells a CO. It is not clear from the video how the CO perceives Ahmo to be resisting. Someone asks if a spit hood is needed.
7:35 – A CO, likely Morden, yells: “He can’t be trusted at this time, boys! We trusted him the first time and he flipped on us.”
7:47 – As an officer continues to shin-pin Ahmo with his knee across his upper back, a CO, likely Morden, says: “He says he can’t breathe, so can you just make sure he can breathe?”
Someone in jeans, wearing medical gloves – seemingly, a nurse – comes in view and takes a quick look at Ahmo. “Is he good?” asks the CO giving commands.“He’s good now,” someone says.
8:26 – “Kay, fellas, you guys remember the chair?” asks a CO, likely Morden. “Make sure we got control, let’s be smart here, boys.”
A spit hood is put over Ahmo’s head, and several COs pull him up to stand. Ahmo can be heard crying out, as the COs then sit him down in the restraint chair. (Spit hoods, which are often made of mesh netting, go over someone’s entire head to prevent them from being able to spit on others.)
9:43 – While being strapped into the restraint chair with his hands handcuffed behind him, Ahmo twice calls out: “I can’t breathe.”
“If you’re talking to us you can breathe!” yells a CO, likely Morden, in reply.
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Medical experts have debunked this notion. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, several experts told the Associated Press that just because someone is talking, it doesn’t mean they’re getting enough oxygen.
“The belief that a person’s ability to speak precludes the possibility of suffocation is not true and can have fatal consequences,” wrote several medical doctors in a 2020 journal article titled “A Dangerous Myth: Does Speaking Imply Breathing?”
As Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck, the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe more than 20 times.
Ogimaakaan (Chief) E. J. Fontaine, of Sagkeeng First Nation, was in court Friday, where he saw the video, along with members of Ahmo’s family. He said it raised the image of Floyd’s death in his mind.
“The COs, from what I gathered seeing the video, saw William as just another Indian that didn’t deserve respect and dignity,” Fontaine said. “This gave them the power to disregard his human dignity and need for medical attention.”
“When William continued to say he couldn’t breathe, they continued to press him and throw his head back,” he said, in an email to the Free Press.
“It was a horrific scene for William’s family and community members to witness,” Fontaine added.
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10:40 – The next time Ahmo says he can’t breathe, a CO, likely Morden, yells back: “Be quiet!” Ahmo says he can’t breathe, or some variation of that, five times over the next twenty seconds.
11:27 – An obviously distressed Ahmo, calls out again that he can’t breathe, his voice sounding strangled. He’s pressing against the restraint chair. The COs again pile on Ahmo.
12:33 – A CO says, “resisting!,” and another calls out: “Put him back on the ground.” Ahmo says for the sixteenth time he can’t breathe. The spit hood is still around his head.
12:58 – A CO says, “There’s blood coming out, guys.”
13:06 – “Put him on the ground, he can breathe better,” says one CO.
14:04 – For the twenty-second time, Ahmo says he can’t breathe. It is seemingly, the last time he says so.
14:10 – Ahmo is down on the ground, again on his stomach, with a CO appearing to hold onto each of his limbs.
“Let’s get as few guys as we need on the body,” says Morden, who is now visible in the video, wearing a surgical mask. “Give him a little space to breathe.” At this point, blood is visible, smeared on the floor.
“Do you want us to pour some water on you?” says Morden, bending toward Ahmo, before yelling the question again. “Cheema says no,” says someone else. It was not clear who this refers to.
“If you want this to end, William, you gotta get up and you gotta listen to us, we can go get you decontaminated. You understand? Do you want help? Do you want help?” yells Morden. Ahmo cannot be heard responding. “Is he breathing?” Morden asks.
“He’s on his stomach,” someone mumbles, and Morden orders the others to take the surgical mask off Ahmo’s face. The spit hood is no longer on Ahmo’s head. It’s unclear when it was taken off – or slipped off. Ahmo is not moving.
15:24 – A CO, likely Morden, orders Ahmo to be turned into “recovery position, if we can.”
“Watch him try to fight though!” the CO adds.
“Is he actually breathing?” asks another one of the COs. Ahmo’s hands are still handcuffed behind his back.
“Kay, what are we looking at? Do I want an ambulance?” says the CO, likely Morden.
“Cheema?” the CO says, while someone else, wearing green gloves, is seen trying to take Ahmo’s pulse on his neck.
“He’s holding his head up,” says a CO. Someone says he has a pulse.
“He’s just taking a break now,” someone says.
“So he’s still good? He’s still alive?” responds the CO, likely Morden, as an officer is seen standing on the chain still going between the shackles on Ahmo’s ankles. One of his feet appears bloodied.
16:16 – Someone is heard explaining that Ahmo is “currently non-responsive” but has a pulse and heartbeat. A sound resembling a snore escapes from Ahmo.
16:36 – “Let’s take this opportunity to stick him in the chair, if he’s asleep,” says the CO, likely Morden. A few officers grab Ahmo and drag him, in a seated position, towards the restraint chair. Ahmo’s face is ashen and his head is limp, drooped towards the ground.
Another voice asks if an ambulance is needed.
17:10 – Ahmo is in the restraint chair, where officers are seen strapping him in, as his head lolls to one side. His body tips forward. Ahmo hasn’t seemed to have said anything in about three minutes.
“Hey boys, we’re good here still. We’re good here, boys,” says Morden, while surveying the scene.
17:48 – A short-haired woman, a nurse, arrives.
“Are we able to have the nurse slide in there, boys? Or do you want to wait a minute” asks Morden. Drool is coming out of Ahmo’s mouth, as an officer responds, “we’re just securing him now.” The nurse waits. “At your earliest convenience,” Morden says.
“Ambulance or no?” Morden then asks the nurse. She is less easily heard but seems to say no.
18:33 – Told to watch Ahmo’s head, one CO yanks his head back, which had been lolling forward.
“Do we have another spit mask,” calls out Morden. “He’s not in a big world of hurt right now,” the CO continues. Ahmo’s head is tipped back, his mouth open. His arms and legs are strapped down. He does not appear to be moving or communicating.
19:08 – A nurse puts her hand on Ahmo, seemingly for the first time. With a gloved hand, she slaps his chest, “hey, buddy!” She appears to call for further medical attention and begins doing a sternal rub.
“Should I call a code red?” Morden asks her.
“Yeah,” she replies. “We got a red.”
19:28 – “Kay, you guys, let’s get him down on the floor,” the nurse says, calling for oxygen. Officers begin to unhook Ahmo, his ankles still in shackles. Ahmo is brought to the ground.
20:14 – Ahmo is put on his back, seemingly for the first time in the video. Another person starts giving Ahmo oxygen, as COs continue to hold down his limbs.
20:52 – The video ends.
Ahmo was then taken to the Health Sciences Centre, where he died. The trial against Morden continues in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Marsha McLeod
Investigative reporter
Marsha is an investigative reporter. She joined the Free Press in 2023.
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