(Las Vegas, NV) – Today, Sheriff Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, announced that Officer Kenneth Lopera, the officer involved in the death of Mr. Tashii Farmer (Brown) will be charged with involuntary manslaughter and oppression under color of office. The Clark County Coroner’s office also released the results of their autopsy report indicating that Mr. Farmer died from “asphyxia due to police restraint”.

“The tragic death of Mr. Tashii Farmer was completely avoidable if training and procedure had been followed by Officer Lopera. This situation was a textbook incident of escalation, not de-escalation protocols and violates the new training protocols adopted by the department. The LVMPD and this community have come too far together for anything less than total transparency throughout this process, said Tod Story, executive director, ACLU of Nevada. We continue to call on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to ban the use of LVNR and chokeholds of any kind because they too often result in death. With the results of these two reports released today, the district attorney must prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Today the coroner released their findings regarding the death of Mr. Tashii Farmer (Brown), confirming what many who have been following this tragic event already knew. LVNR, a choke hold that is a banned form of restraint utilized by Officer Kenneth Lopera lead to “asphyxia” suffocation, ultimately killing Mr. Brown. As a community, our hearts continue to break and we lend our deepest and sincerest condolences to his family and friends. The NAACP is hoping that when reviewing this case the District Attorney’s findings provide justice for the loved ones of Mr. Brown as well as the community that he has left behind. Officer Kenneth Lopera had a choice, unfortunately his decision had devastating consequences and we continue to be a community in mourning. Said Roxann McCoy, president NAACP Las Vegas Branch.

The NAACP--Las Vegas Branch and ACLU of Nevada will continue to work with LVMPD to ensure transparency throughout this process and make recommendations on the use of force protocols at LVMPD.

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