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topicnews · July 17, 2025

7 Massachusetts officers on vacation after the death of man

7 Massachusetts officers on vacation after the death of man

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Seven officials were put on the administrative leave paid after a man no longer reacted and on July 11th after a fight with the police, in which officials were seen on the video that held him in front of a local seafood restaurant in a suburb in Boston, said officials.

The video showed several officials who tried to hold back a person who was later identified as Francis Gigliotti (43) by staying on the floor outside the Bradford Seafood in Haverhill, a city about 35 miles north of Boston. He no longer reacted and was later taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead, the public prosecutor's office of the Essex district announced in a statement.

It was not clear how long the officers held Gigliotti or when he no longer reacted. According to Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett, the officers involved in the incident did not wear body cameras, but video that witnesses recorded showed Gigliotti who called for help.

The incident occurred after the Haverhill police authority received a call in which he reported that a man “behaved irregularly” and met oncoming traffic in the region, the district prosecutor said. Michele Rooney from Gigliotti's fiance told the local television channels that he experienced a crisis for mental health and was not armed.

“The people who were there before I got there to go to video said that he was roaring, 'help, help, climb from me, help me,' and they had their knees on the neck and they sat on him.

In a statement on July 14, Barrett said the seven officers involved in the incident were put on the administrative leave when they examined Gigliotti's death. The district's public prosecutor has also asked the public to submit photos and videos of the incident to support the investigation.

“The city of Haverhill mourns the loss of Mr. Gigliotti, a lifelong resident,” said Barrett. “Mr. Gigliotti, his friends and family and the public deserve a thorough and transparent examination of his death.”

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What happened to Francis Gigliotti?

The Haverhill police received ET on July 11 at 6:22 p.m. against a man who, according to the district prosecutor's office, behaved “irregularly”. The caller reported that the man who was later identified as Gigliotti had fallen onto the floor after leaving a building and ran in the middle of the street.

According to reports, Gigliotti also drove a car with his head before continuing down the street. Surveillance material recorded him in and out of traffic, where it was almost hit by several cars, the district prosecutor said.

“The responding officials arrived on site and found that Gigliotti behaved unpredictable and warlike and asked for an ambulance to assess his well -being,” said the district district.

Before the ambulance arrived at the scene, the district's public prosecutor said Gigliotti fled on foot and tried to enter Bradford Seafood. The police tried to curb him “for security reasons”, and Gigliotti no longer reacted, according to the district's public prosecutor.

First aiders tried to provide medical help, and Gigliotti was taken to a hospital in which he was declared dead. Gigliotti's cause of death has not yet been determined, according to the district prosecutor's office of the Essex district. The medical examiner will carry out a complete autopsy to determine the official cause and type of death.

“When I arrived there and 7 or 8 police officers were over and he screams: 'Help me, I can't breathe,'” said Rooney in a protest against Gigliotti's death according to CBS News Boston. “It is something that will be engraved in my brain forever.”

According to Barrett, the district prosecutor is currently heading the investigation, including the survey of all responding officials and witnesses.

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Death requests require reforms for mental health

During the protest of July 14th, family and friends of Giliotti officers accused the situation, reported CBS News Boston. Family members said Giliotti – who recently lost his mother and brother and had been hit by a bus – had to deal with psychological problems, according to the television station.

“He needed support and nobody was there to do that for him,” said Giliotti's niece Leti Torres in the protest, reported CBS News Boston.

According to Barrett, the city of Haverhill financed both a behavioral clinic embedded to the police authority and a social worker who works with the police for drug interventions. The mayor added that the police's behavioral response reacted to over 800 calls in 2024.

“As we mourn, we also have to think about how we help them in crises,” said Barrett. “I am obliged to build on these resources and invest in additional training and equipment for the Haverhill Police Department.”

On July 15, Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, called for a “quick and thorough examination” in Giliotti's death. Pressley used to introduce two invoices with Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Summer Lee who “pursue a public health approach and support individuals in the psychological health crisis”.

“Unfortunately we will never be able to give Francis Gigliotti justice – because in a just world, Francis would be alive at home with his fiance and his family today – but we can and must provide accountability and political changes,” said Pressley in a statement. “I look forward to seeing a transparent and independent examination, which district prosecutor Tucker led so that the written community can receive the answers and healing that you deserve.”

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Experts warned long before the dangers of captivating someone opposite their face

Criminal prosecution experts have tied up the handcuff's technique or kept someone down, as this can cause suffocation if a person is held for too long or excessive pressure is exerted.

“If someone is held back in such a way that their stomach is on the ground, they are referred to as restraint,” said Virginia's disability law center. “Positions suffocation is if the positioning of the body prevents someone from breathing appropriately, and this form of suffocation is the reason why vulnerable restraint sometimes leads to death.”

In a guideline for the application of violence from the 1995 Ministry of Justice, the department found that “inexplicable deaths are caused more often in the customer than is known by a little-known phenomenon known as position aspiration”.

“As soon as the suspect is tied up with handcuffs, they bring it into the stomach,” the Ministry of Justice continued.

The report also found that a suspect seems to resist when the respiratory tract is blocked: “The natural reaction to lack of oxygen occurs – the person is fighting more violently.”

Several extreme cases of susceptible reluctance have re -lived up the reform of the police and the demand for systemic changes in recent years, including the murder of George Floyd 2020, an unarmed black man who died after a former police officer of Minneapolis, who has been on his neck and back for more than nine minutes. Experts who previously spoken to the USA today called the officer's actions overly and dangerous.

“If someone says: 'I can't breathe,' This is a medical emergency, and you get Ems to treat them correctly,” said John Peters Jr., President of the Institute for Prevention and Management of Deaths to Customers, compared to USA. “Because the suspect becomes a patient.”

How much has changed? After George Floyd's death, many racism declared a crisis of public health.

Contribution: Grace Hauck and Dennis Wagner, USA Today

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