The Decatur community came together on Thursday to honor John Scott.
The family of the Decatur man who died following his arrest will be taking legal action.
The Decatur Police Department says after refusing arrest, John Scott was taken into custody where he later showed signs of distress. Scott was eventually taken to the hospital where he died from what authorities are calling a medical emergency.
Human rights activist and civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who took on the Steve Perkins case in 2023, will be representing the Scott family.
Merritt told WAAY 31 their team will be running a parallel investigation to the Madison County Sheriff's Office as the details of this case unfold.
“Our first flush at the facts of this case seem to reveal all kinds of constitutional violations, a pattern within the city of Decatur in terms of the training of their forces and their police officers and how they use force,†Merritt said. “We do plan to move forward with a suit once we have a better idea of all the actors involved and all the violations that in fact occurred last week.â€
Merritt says once they have all the details, he intends to file the lawsuit against the city of Decatur within 30 days or less.
“When I get multiple calls about police use of force that results in the death of a civilian, that typically represents a major city like Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles; a major population,†Merritt said. “There are entire nations that go a year without killing multiple citizens and to see it happen twice in such a small period of time in the city of Decatur is really alarming.â€
Besides Scott's mental health struggles, Merritt says he had no pre-existing conditions that would have led to his death.
After watching the body camera footage and seeing the mental health crisis Scott was in, Merritt believes this was a clear policy violation within the department under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“That physical assault is what caused his death, we just don't know what aspect of the assault and that's why we're waiting for the medical examiner to complete the autopsy,†Merritt said.
Stick with WAAY 31 news on this developing story.
