Footage from jail shows officers kneeling on Gershun Freeman's back for almost 6 minutes

Newly released video shows correctional officers punching, kicking, pepper spraying and eventually kneeling on the upper back of an inmate who died after he attempted to run from a cell on Oct. 5, 2022.

In the video released Thursday afternoon by the Nashville District Attorney's Office, 33-year-old Gershun Freeman can be seen running out of his cell naked as officers chase him, slip, and begin to hold him down and punch and kick him. The Nashville DA's office was called in by Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to investigate the case as an independent prosecutor.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, in an email statement sent Thursday night, said he plans to wait for additional information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Nashville DA's office before "taking further administrative action."

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"According to the Medical Examiner, Mr. Gershun Freeman suffered from psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained," Bonner, who is a Memphis mayoral candidate, said in the statement.

"It is unfortunate that parts of the video are being shown out of context because the full video does show the erratic and violent behavior that led to the need to restrain Mr. Freeman. These corrections officers deserve a fair review of this case, and I will wait for additional information from the TBI and the investigating DA before taking further administrative action."

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a question about the employment status of the corrections officers that appeared in the footage, and it is not clear if they are currently on administrative leave.

The start of the security footage shows two officers handing out boxed meals to inmates. When they reach Freeman’s cell, he runs out and appears to grab at an officer. SCSO said Freeman bit one of the two corrections officers when he ran out of his cell.

Freeman is wrestled to the ground by the two officers, who begin to punch and kick Freeman, just out of the frame of the camera.

As he gets up and tries to run again, Freeman is met by four additional officers. What appears to be pepper spray is fired at Freeman and one officer begins to hit him with what appears to be a canister of pepper spray.

At least 10 officers appear in the hallway, attempting to restrain Freeman, and two officers grabbed Freeman’s legs at one point.

Other officers can be seen slipping in an attempt to reach the group that was surrounding Freeman.

The group of officers begin moving out of the hallway, and eventually out of frame. Officers can be seen pacing by the door at the end of the hall, some slipping and some covering their eyes.

The camera then shifts to another hallway and correctional officers are pulling colleagues back from what appears to be Freeman, who is seen sliding into frame and grabbing an officer’s leg before running further down the hall.

Freeman slips again and some officers kick him before he crawls out of frame and grabs another officer’s leg. The officers scatter and Freeman turns down a hallway, with other officers attempting to restrain him.

A red or orange substance can be seen on the floor after Freemann stood up.

The camera shifts again, showing escalators and Freeman walking up one, with three jail staffers following him. The next shift shows an officer pushing Freeman against a wall and Freeman appears to swing at him.

Two more people arrive and begin holding Freeman on the ground, attempting to handcuff him after throwing a few punches. Two more officers arrive as Freeman is handcuffed, left lying face down on the ground.

Eventually, he begins to move again and one officer appears to place his knee on Freeman’s upper back. The officer remains on Freeman’s back for five minutes and 57 seconds before the inmate was lifted, leaving a much darker red substance on the floor.

As officers lift Freeman by his wrists, he appears to be limp. Officers set him down, and his head falls forward between his knees. He remains in that position for about two and a half minutes before what appears to be medical employees arrive.

Freeman died Oct. 5, 2022, at the jail. A narrative summary in his autopsy said Freeman collapsed after a "physical altercation with corrections officers." According to that report, he was restrained, had a cardiac arrest and officers gave him CPR before he was pronounced dead.

The autopsy report listed his cause of death as an exacerbation of a heart disease due to the physical altercation and being subdued by the officers.

His manner of death was listed as homicide, although that "is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent," the autopsy said.

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office has said its Justice Review Unit is investigating Freeman's death. The Nashville DA's office said it would not comment beyond the release of video footage.

"I can't speak for [Nashville District Attorney] Glenn Funk...but when I'm the prosecutor on the case, and other cases, I think that in the interest of transparency, we should get the video out as soon as possible," Mulroy told The Commercial Appeal Thursday evening. "I want to make sure that we do it in such a way that it doesn't compromise the investigation — but is done with all due dispatch."

Mulroy's office first made the request to have the Nashville DA's office investigate towards the end of 2022, but delays in the process — caused in part by the investigation the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was conducting — caused the request to not be signed and made official until the last few weeks.

Freeman was arrested Oct. 1, 2022, after he was accused of attacking, threatening and kidnapping his girlfriend. The kidnapping charge came from the woman telling investigators that Freeman forced her into a car at his home and then drove her to another location, where she was set free.

According to the autopsy, Freeman had a history of psychosis, which was considered a possible contributory cause of his death. He was also healing from a stab wound in his back at the time of his death.

The autopsy went on to say Freeman had multiple contusions on his scalp, neck, forehead and lower and upper lips. He also had a 1-1/8 inch laceration along his scalp and the report said hemorrhaging was found in his head, neck and back.

Memphis attorney Jake Brown and civil rights attorney Ben Crump have been investigating Freeman's death on behalf of his family, but have not filed any lawsuits.

Crump and Brown issued a joint statement Thursday, pointing to Freeman's death as "another shocking example of police brutality in the Memphis and Shelby County criminal justice systems."

"The newly released footage is visual evidence that at least 10 officers brutalized and beat Gershun to death, when he was naked and clearly suffering from a mental health crisis," the statement said. "Gershun’s family thanks District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office for their transparency in this, and we are confident that their office will bring these officers to justice on the criminal side.”

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Video released of Shelby County jail officers beating Gershun Freeman