BURLINGTON — The family of Douglas Kilburn, who died after being punched by Burlington Police Officer Cory Campell, is suing the city government.
The civil suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, seeks an unspecified amount in damages for “unreasonable and excessive use of force, which ultimately resulted in his unjustified death.”
The lawsuit also names Mayor Miro Weinberger and former police Chief Brandon del Pozo, alleging they attempted to “interfere” with the autopsy report in which a medical examiner ruled that Kilburn’s death was a homicide.
In March 2019, Campbell responded to a call at the University of Vermont Medical Center concerning a man who was being disorderly. Kilburn had been trying to enter the hospital to see his wife, who had been admitted.
Campbell helped Kilburn enter the hospital and then left. But Campbell was later called back to the hospital, as Kilburn continued to argue with staff in the ambulance bay. Kilburn got in a car and began to leave when he slowed down and pointed to a hospital employee and said, “I know that guy.”
Campbell yelled back “Shut the fuck up and leave,” causing the situation to escalate. As Campbell approached the car, Kilburn got out and told the officer he didn’t have the right to swear at him. Campbell then put his hands on Kilburn’s wrist and chest, prompting Kilburn to attempt to punch Campbell.
The lawsuit states that Kilburn denied intentionally trying to punch Campbell. He said he had become stuck in his seatbelt, causing some contact to occur between him and Campbell as he tried to leave the car.
Campbell then punched Kilburn in the face multiple times, causing him to fall to the ground. Kilburn was then cuffed, while bleeding heavily from a gash on his face. He was later treated at the hospital for skull fractures and died three days later at his home.
The incident was investigated by Attorney General TJ Donovan, but no charges were brought against Campbell, despite the chief medical examiner’s finding that Kilburn’s death was a homicide caused by punches to the head. Donovan argued that Campbell had acted in self defense and that his use of force was “reasonable and justified.”
Hours before the Vermont State Police released the findings that Kilburn’s death was a homicide, del Pozo emailed Department of Health officials stating that he and Weinberger questioned the homicide verdict. Del Pozo said at the time that he reached out to better understand the findings, not to convince the examiner to change the opinion.
The lawsuit argues that del Pozo and Weinberger attempted to interfere with the medical examiner’s homicide designation.
“Defendants del Pozo and Weinberger’s attempts to interfere with an autopsy report are indicative of their attempt to obfuscate and tamper with an active investigation into the death of Kilburn,” the lawsuit states.
Del Pozo and Weinberger’s office declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
After an internal investigation, Campbell was reprimanded in a letter from the Burlington Police Department in January 2020 for swearing at Kilburn during the encounter. He received retraining, but he was not disciplined for his use of force.
Campbell was one of the officers at the center of the Burlington Battery Park protests last summer. Protesters demanded that he and two other officers accused of excessive force, Jason Bellavance and Joseph Corrow, be removed from the police department. Bellavance recently accepted a $300,000 buyout from the city. Campbell and Corrow remain on the policde force.
The Kilburn lawsuit is the latest accusing the BPD of excessive force. Corrow and Bellavance have both been named in lawsuits for using excessive force against two Black men. Another man sued the department for excessive force after an officer kneed him in the face, but he dropped the suit in June 2019.
Clarification: This story has been undated to reflect the status of another excessive force lawsuit brought against the city. It has been dropped.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Family of man who died after Burlington officer’s punch files suit against city.