Campbell scared of being pulled over by police

Olympian Kemoy Campbell is terrified about the possibility of an encounter with American police officers. Campbell is not only a 29-year-old black man living in the United States, but he retired from track and field last year, on the advice of doctors after his heart stopped and he collapsed during a 3,000m race at the 2019 Millrose Games in New York City.

Now, he worries about facing police brutality and how dangerous such a prospect could be, given his health condition. Campbell said on Instagram yesterday that he was always concerned about being caught in such a situation, but his fears heightened with the numerous cases of death and brutality at the hands of police officers in the United States recently.

George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was handcuffed and in the custody of four police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, died after one of them had his knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Although he repeatedly pleaded for assistance, saying he can't breathe, the other officers offered no assistance.

Similar circumstances

Javier Ambler died in Austin, Texas, in similar circumstances to Floyd. Like Floyd, Ambler could be heard saying "I can't breathe" in body camera footage of his arrest released by the Austin Police Department on Monday. USA Today reports that Williamson County sheriff's deputies attempted to pull Ambler over March 28, 2019, because he didn't dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic. Twenty-eight minutes later, the 40-year-old black father of two sons died on a North Austin street after deputies held him down and used tasers on him four times while a crew from A&E's show Live PD filmed. Ambler told the officers, while being tased, that he is not resisting arrest, but has congestive heart failure. This is what is particularly frightening to Campbell.

"This is my fear," Campbell said on Instagram. "I have a heart condition and I'm a black man. A taser could cause me great harm. I might die from this and this is the reality for me. I'm in no way, shape, or form a lawbreaker, but because of the colour of my skin, I am in danger.

"I remember when I had an arrhythmia (a condition where the heart has an irregular beat) while driving. I managed to pull over safely to the side of the road. I was so anxious because I got shocked by my ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, a device placed inside the body to control the pacing of the heart) and I was scared that I was going to get another shock. I put my emergency flasher on and called 911. Then it came to me after I saw a cop drive past. I started thinking "I'm a black man sitting in a car on the side of the road. I'm sweaty, nervous, and anxious all at once.

"If a cop comes by without being informed that I'm having a cardiac episode, he or she could kill me. They might think I'm drunk, high or something.

"If I tell them what's going on, they might not believe me. I can't lift up my shirt to show them the ICD because I'll get shot for sure. If they tase me that might stop my heart and that might kill me too.

"The moral of the story is that while you sit there and keep quiet about racism and police brutality, someone you know who hasn't committed a crime is in fear for their lives because of BAD cops. #blacklivesmatter"

Campbell is just one of many athletes regionally and internationally to have added his thoughts on this issue amid global protests against police brutality and for black civil rights. Recently, former Windies captain Daren Sammy urged the cricketing fraternity to support the Black Lives Matter movement.