A US coroner has ruled that the weekend death of a black man in Cinncinati at the weekend was a homicide.
Hamilton County Coroner Carl Parrott Jr. said the death of Nathaniel Jones was the direct result of clash with six police officers who repeatedly struck him with nightsticks as they struggled to subdue him.
But the coroner added that he was not implying the police had used excessive force. Calling the death of Mr Jones a homicide "does not imply hostile or malign intent", he said.
But the fight with officers did stress - and, ultimately, stop - Mr Jones's heart, which was already weakened by coronary disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and the intoxicating effects of cocaine and PCP, Mr Parrott said.
"Accordingly, his death must be regarded as a direct and immediate consequence of the struggle," the coroner said, explaining why he could not declare the death accidental.
The ruling infuriated police. "These officers did nothing wrong," said Mr Roger Webster, the president of the police union.
It also angered black activists, who seized on the coroner's report as proof that police brutality in Cincinnati continues unchecked. Mr Jones was the 18th black man in the past eight years to be killed while fighting or fleeing Cincinnati officers.
The struggle, which occurred about 6 a.m. on Sunday, was captured by a videocamera mounted in a police cruiser. Snippets of the video have been replayed over and over on national TV.But there's a 97-second gap in the tape, which is activated by a police car's flashing blue lights.The police switched off their car lights when they initially arrived outside a fast-food restaurant, and Mr Jones's supporters find the subsequent gap in taping highly suspicious.
AP