A man found unresponsive in a jail cell after fighting with deputies over the weekend was on life support Monday, in a case that Latino activists say raises more questions about practices under Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The family of Ernest Atencio has been speaking with an attorney, the leader of a Hispanic rights group and a Latino lawmaker about what happened to the 44-year-old while he was detailed at the Maricopa County sheriff’s jail in downtown Phoenix. The three leaders told The Associated Press that Atencio’s family is deciding when to take him off life support.

They said family members would speak to reporters to demand answers from the sheriff’s office.

Phoenix police said Atencio was accused of kicking at the door of an apartment complex late Thursday and confronting a woman “in an aggressive manner.” He was detained early Friday to be booked on an assault charge, Sheriff’s Deputy Director Jack MacIntyre said in a statement.

MacIntyre called Atencio was combative when police brought him to the jail and said that he was placed in a so-called “safe cell” to calm him down.

State Sen. Steve Gallardo, of Phoenix, said that Atencio’s treatment could be the latest incarnation of abuse by Arpaio’s office.

Read the full story at The Washington Post