The family and friends of a man who died following a struggle with police officers outside a Haverhill restaurant are demanding answers.  

Video from Friday evening shows officers restraining 43-year-old Francis Gigliotti outside Bradford Seafood Restaurant. Police said that he was "behaving erratically" and tried to enter the restaurant on Winter Street. He became unresponsive during the altercation, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office.

"When I got there and there were 7 or 8 cops on top of him and he's yelling, 'Help me, I can't breathe,'" said his fiancée, Michele Rooney, while speaking at the protest. "It's something that will be etched in my brain forever."  

Haverhill protest over death of Francis Gigliotti

The protest marched from G.A.R. Park to the Haverhill Police Department and then to City Hall. Family members accuse police of mishandling the situation with Giliotti, who struggled with mental health issues and had recently lost his mother, his brother, and had been hit by a bus, they said.

"He needed support and nobody was there to do that for him," niece Leti Torres said.

"Clearly, you can see they had no crisis intervention team whatsoever that was coming," said protester Robyn Krieger.  

"They should lose their jobs and be indicted for murder," said his brother-in-law, Shawn Rooney.  

The family said that no one from the city has reached out to them about Gigliotti's death.

"We are his voice," said Torres. "Everybody here is his support, and they need to hear that we're not letting this go silently."

Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett gave her condolences to the family in a Facebook post on Saturday evening. She said she is "closing, monitoring the circumstances around his tragic death."

"I promise complete transparency to our community and ask that everyone remain patient and calm as this investigation ensues and more information is made available," Barrett said.

The District Attorney is investigating.