Video showing cop kneeling on man’s neck sparks investigation in Pennsylvania
Allentown police in Pennsylvania have launched a use of force investigation after a video showed a police officer kneeling on a man’s neck.
The video posted on Saturday to Twitter shows two police officers trying to restrain a man and a third officer pressing his knee into the man’s neck.
Allentown police said the man was vomiting outside of St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Hospital on Saturday and began to yell and spit at hospital staff and police once they got involved, according to a statement.Police said they tried to restrain the man and everyone involved fell to the ground.
“The individual continued to be noncompliant which required officers to restrain the individual and hospital applied a spit shield,” police said in the statement obtained by CBS 3.
The man, who was not identified, in the video was given medical treatment after the incident, police said, and was later released from the hospital.
A use of force investigation will involve reviewing the video posted on social media, speaking to witnesses and reviewing other video footage, police said in the statement.
A Black Lives Matter protest was held in Allentown on Saturday night, according to CBS Philadelphia.
“We’re done,” Justan Parker, Black Lives Matter leader in Lehigh Valley, told the station. “People think that it couldn’t happen here and it has been happening and it happened yesterday. So enough is enough.”
According to the Allentown Police Department’s use of force policy, “police officers shall use only that force that is reasonably necessary to effectively bring an incident under control, while protecting the lives of the officer and others.”
The incident happened weeks after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died in Minneapolis police custody after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, as three other officers didn’t intervene. All four officers have since been fired and face criminal charges.
A 17-year-old bystander took video of the incident, in which Floyd can be heard saying, “Please, please, please, I can’t breathe.” That video sparked an avalanche of protests across the U.S. against police brutality and racism.
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Floyd’s family, posted about the Allentown video on Twitter.
“This happened yesterday and is exactly what led to #GeorgeFloyd’s death,” Crump wrote. “We need this officer’s name and badge # NOW.”
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection to Floyd’s death. He remains jailed with bail set at $1.25 million.
Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were also fired and arrested, charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Kueng, Lane and Thao have all been released after posting $750,000 bonds.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Video showing cop kneeling on man’s neck sparks investigation in Pennsylvania."