John Locher / AP
Las Vegas police Undersheriff Kevin McMahill speaks during a news conference Wednesday, May 17, 2017, in Las Vegas. Police held the news conference to report on the investigation of the weekend death of an unarmed man at a Las Vegas Strip casino at the hands of an officer using a neck hold that is banned in many cities.
Published Sunday, May 28, 2017 | 4:34 p.m.
Updated Sunday, May 28, 2017 | 7:57 p.m.
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More than 100 demonstrators blocked traffic on the Las Vegas Strip this afternoon to protest the death Tashii Brown, who died two weeks ago after a Metro Police officer put him in a chokehold.
At about 4 p.m. the group made a wall by holding hands across the crosswalk between the Mirage and the Venetian, holding up traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard for about two minutes, according to police.
Shortly after a fight broke out and 15 people were arrested, police said.
The protest was initially peaceful and officers only intervened when demonstrators blocked the road, Metro Lt. Grant Rogers said.
Out of 15 people officers detained, 10 were arrested and transported to the Clark County Detention Center, Rogers said. But only two were being booked, one for allegedly being in possession of a weapon and the other for being involved in a fight.
The eight people who were arrested but not booked were being issued class-two citations and were expected to be released shortly Rogers said, noting that officers weren't involved in the fight.
The 40-year-old Brown, who wasn’t armed and showed signs of paranoia and agitation, led officers on a chase through the Venetian in the early morning of May 14. He was hit seven times with a stun gun, but the shocks were just the beginning.
Images and video released by Metro show officer Kenneth Lopera trying to restrain Brown by repeatedly punching him and using an unapproved neck hold on him for over a minute.
Brown lost consciousness from the hold and aid was rendered by officers. He died shortly after arriving at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
Metro is treating Brown’s death the way the agency treats officer-involved shootings — policy that was implemented after a U.S. Department of Justice review in 2012, which has been lauded by the federal agency and other police departments.
Lopera, who has been with the agency for five years, is on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues.
