Updated at 6 p.m. Thursday: to include a correction about the cause of Scott’s death. He died from “fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement,” according to the Collin County medical examiner’s office.
Several speakers appeared at a Collin County Commissioners Court meeting Monday to voice complaints about the inaction of law enforcement during recent protests across the county in response to the in-custody death of Marvin Scott III.
The family and friends of Scott have organized nightly sit-ins at the county jail and other protests and are demanding further repercussions, including the arrests of the detention officers involved in his death, which the medical examiner’s office ruled a homicide last week.
The session’s first speaker, Quincy Okafor of DeSoto, said a counter-protester threatened a Plano police officer during a demonstration Saturday but was not taken into custody.
“It’s really sad to see that gentlemen that are not of my skin tone, or that are white, are able to get away with stuff like that,” said Okafor, 30, who is Black.
The protest took place at the intersection of Sam Rayburn Tollway and Preston Road on the border of Plano and Frisco, and officers from both departments were present, police said. A Plano officer arrived after a driver called about the possibility of a car wreck, police spokesman David Tilley said.
“It was a lot of mayhem going on because there were a lot of protesters that were all over the place,” he said.
Okafor told county commissioners that protesters need more police escorts during demonstrations.
“I know what we’re doing is risky, but at the same time I don’t appreciate Plano or Frisco sitting back and watching us have to block off traffic or not intervening until something escalates,” he said.
“You mentioned what you’re doing is risky,” County Judge Chris Hill responded. “I’ll just point out what you’re doing, actually, is illegal, but thank you for your comments.”
Hill did not respond to a request for clarification on what the protesters were doing that was illegal, but instead said, “Our constitution guarantees for all the right to assemble and protest peacefully, and we must always guard these rights with tremendous care and respect, that these liberties may be protected for every generation that follows.”
Prominent civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Scott’s family, said Hill’s comment likely stemmed from the protesters obstructing the roadway.
According to state law, a person commits an offense by knowingly obstructing a public road, highway or street or disobeying a “reasonable request or order to move.”
In a letter to Hill, Merritt asked him, “What is more urgent — pontificating about potential traffic offenses committed by the dismayed and heartbroken people of Collin County or doing all in your power to help them seek justice?”
Merritt said most protesters know they could be arrested in these circumstances and will often consent to it if they believe it will help ensure an equal justice system.
“Peaceful protesters understand that in an act of civil disobedience, such as blocking a roadway, they’re willing to submit themselves to arrest,” he said. “They’re highlighting the fact that we can arrest protesters, so we can also, hopefully, arrest counter-protesters, and we can arrest state agents, like the seven officers involved with Marvin Scott III.”
Judith Reiter, 58, who serves as a precinct chair in Richardson for the Collin County Democratic Party, urged the commissioners to arrest the detention officers involved in Scott’s death.
“These officers committed murder and you are continuing to make Collin County look bad,” she said. “My home, where I raised my family.”
Scott, 26, died at the Collin County jail March 15 from “fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement,” according to the Collin County medical examiner’s office. He had been arrested by Allen police earlier in the day for possessing a marijuana joint.
Seven detention officers were immediately placed on administrative leave and fired two weeks later — though one was recently reinstated, a decision that Sheriff Jim Skinner said he does not agree with. An eighth officer resigned at the start of the ongoing investigation.
Last week, The Dallas Morning News revealed the names of the officers associated with Scott’s death: Blaise Mikulewicz, Austin Wong, Justin Patrick, Rafael Paradez, James Schoelen, Alec Difatta, Andres Cardenas and Christopher Windsor.
“These protesters are just pointing out the fact that our criminal justice system in Collin County is failing to uphold its end of the bargain,” Merritt said.
CORRECTION, May 6, 2021 at 6 p.m.: An earlier version of this story said Scott suffocated to death, but he died from “fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement,” according to the Collin County medical examiner’s office.
