Seven California Highway Patrol officers have been charged in the March 2020 death of a traffic violation suspect who, pinned to the ground, screamed “I can’t breathe” until he passed out and died.

As Los Angeles prosecutors announced, seven police officers and a paramedic have been charged with manslaughter and assault against 38-year-old Edward Bronstein, from Burbank, California.

Bronstein died of acute methamphetamine poisoning while restrained by officers, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. “These officers had a legal obligation to Mr. Bronstein. We believe they failed in their duty and their failure constituted criminal negligence as it caused his death,” said prosecutor George Gascon.

Bronstein, who was white, died two months before George Floyd, the African-American man who was pinned to the ground by police in Minneapolis and took his last breath while pleading with them that he “can’t breathe.” This dying phrase became the watchword in the anti-racist demonstrations and protests against police brutality that shook the US and the world in the summer of 2020.

In Bronstein’s case, two of the officers being prosecuted flagged him down on Interstate 5 because they suspected he was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He was then taken to the Motorway Police parking lot where he initially refused to have his blood drawn. He eventually relented, after the police kept him on the ground, handcuffed. Multiple police officers are accused of holding him down with their knees while the paramedic drew blood. “I can’t breathe,” Bronstein yelled repeatedly and began calling for help, until he lost consciousness.

The officers continued to hold him face down for another six minutes. More than 13 minutes had passed since his voice was last heard when CPR was attempted, but he never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead, prosecutor Gascon said.