Family calls for accountability from Irondale police after viewing body camera footage
IRONDALE, Ala. (WIAT) — Nearly a year following Phillip Reeder’s death, his family is calling for answers and accountability from the Irondale Police Department after watching newly released body camera footage from the day he died.
Reeder, 52, died during what his family described as a mental health crisis in August 2024. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency recently allowed his family to view the body camera footage from that day. At a press conference held outside Irondale City Hall on Monday, the family and their attorneys said what they saw raised serious concerns.
“Phillip is heard clearly not once, not twice, but three times ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,’” said Sandra Lee Reeder, his wife.
Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is representing the family, said the footage shows Reeder being restrained for several minutes.
“If I stand right here and count to 120 seconds — a lot can happen. That’s three minutes,” Daniels said. “A knee was on the back of his neck while he was in handcuffs.”
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Reeder’s son Zachariah Reeder said his family is not alone in experiencing this kind of loss.
“This is a horrible thing to happen to any family,” he said. “It happened to George Floyd, and it’s happened to several other families. There’s video after video of people being shot, killed, murdered — not just by other people but by police officers. People who are there to serve and protect.”
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office classified Reeder’s manner of death as a homicide, though that does not necessarily mean there is culpability in the case. It stated in its autopsy case summary blunt force injuries alone would not have caused Reeder’s death.
“The combination of his heart disease, cocaine, injuries, and exertion from the altercation are the best explanation for Mr. Reeder’s death,” part of the summary reads.
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The ALEA confirmed it turned the case over to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office in December and is reviewing the possibility of publicly releasing the body camera footage.
The city of Irondale provided the following statement after the press conference:
“The City of Irondale and the Irondale Police Department do not agree with the characterization of events by Ms. Sandra Reeder regarding the death of Phillip Reeder.
“Alabama Act 2023-507 prevents the release of the body-worn camera footage and prevents disclosure of such footage to anyone other than those persons listed in the statute. The statute permits the personal representative of a deceased individual whose image or voice is the subject of the recording to view the video. Therefore, the City of Irondale facilitated the viewing of the video on July 18, 2025 to Mr. Reeder’s personal representative, Ms. Sandra Reeder, in accordance with the law.
“On 8/6/2024 at approximately 5:10 am, Irondale 911 received several calls regarding a white male subject (later identified as Phillip Reeder) running in and out of traffic on Highway 78 near Old Leeds Road. Officers were dispatched to the area and located the subject who appeared to be under the influence and behaving erratically. Despite multiple commands to comply, Mr. Reeder continued running in the road and shouting. As Mr. Reeder posed a danger to himself and others, a Taser was deployed to bring Mr. Reeder to the ground and assist officers with detaining Mr. Reeder. Even after deployment of the Taser, Mr. Reeder continued to resist and would not follow commands of the officers. Once handcuffed, Mr. Reeder continued to struggle and resist for almost two minutes.
“Officers did hold Mr. Reeder to the ground using their arms only. No knee was placed in the back of his neck, and no excessive force was used. Mr. Reeder stopped resisting, and the officers realized that he had stopped breathing. They immediately turned him over, checked for a pulse and began CPR until the paramedics arrived.
“ALEA conducted an independent investigation of the incident and found no wrongdoing by the Irondale police officers. The force used against Mr. Reeder was only the force necessary and proportional to the need to prevent his running wildly back and forth on a busy road endangering himself and others. The cause of death indicated on Mr. Reeder’s death certificate is recorded as
‘”Hypertensive heart disease associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation’ and it is noted on the death certificate that the ‘Decedent with heart disease consumed illicit drug and was subdued during altercation with police.’ Following the investigation by ALEA, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office did not see any probable cause sufficient for criminal charges in regard to the officers and their actions during the arrest/use of force incident.
“The City of Irondale and the Irondale Police Department support our police officers and do not believe they did anything wrong as to Phillip Reeder.”
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