The Nation - News from May 12, 1985

The death of a black man last month resulting from police use of a controversial “sleeper” neck hold was ruled a homicide by a public inquest jury in Portland, Ore. The all-white panel said that the death of Lloyd (Tony) Stevenson, 31, was due to the use of the hold by police officer Gary Barbour, who is white, and the failure of Barbour and other officers to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The case, which sparked a march on City Hall, will be referred to a grand jury. The hold, which is applied with the hands or a night stick, is designed to restrict the blood supply to the brain and produce unconsciousness.