Seattle cop removes colleague's knee from man's neck during arrest a week after George Floyd's death
Video footage captured the moment a Seattle cop was seen removing his colleague's knee from the neck of an alleged looter while arresting him amid riots and violence against police brutality. Photojournalist Matt Mills managed to capture the astonishing footage on Saturday, May 30, night while cities across the nation erupted in protests and riots over the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died after a Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was seen kneeling on his neck during an arrest. Floyd had repeatedly told Chauvin that he was unable to breathe but the cop paid no heed, eventually leading to Floyd losing consciousness and, subsequently, passing away. Mills took to Instagram to share the video and explained what happened in the caption. He wrote that the officers had been responding to a call regarding looters inside a T-Mobile store in Seattle. Check out the video here.
"When Seattle Police Department officers arrived, the group attempted to escape without being captured. In this video, one officer decided to use a knee-on-neck tactic with the first looter he captured and then diverted to use it again on yet another when the person tried to make a run for it," Mills shared. "It was only when the crowd started screaming at the officers to stop that his colleague then moved the officer's knee off his neck and onto his back before they carried him off to arrest," he added.
The video clip shows people scrambling out of the T-Mobile store as police try and catch them. Two officers are seen grabbing onto a man sporting an orange hoodie and pushing him face down as he struggles to free himself. Protesters behind the camera are heard screaming at the police telling them to stop the dangerous knee to neck hold that had claimed George Floyd's life just a week ago. One person is heard yelling, "Take your f***ing knee off his neck!"
While another shouts, "Take your f***ing knee off his neck! Take your f***ing knee off his neck!" After a couple of seconds, the officer looks up at the bystanders before he puts his hand on his colleague's knee and moves it off the man's neck. There have been nationwide protests and riots over police brutality and their disregard for African American lives with the latest example being that of George Floyd.
A viral video showed a Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling into Floyd's neck after they arrested him for trying to use forge papers at a local Deli. In the video, Floyd can be heard pleading, "I can't breathe". Chauvin continues to dig his knee into Floyd's neck for a sickening eight minutes until Floyd loses consciousness and eventually dies. When the 46-year-old was placed in the ambulance he did not have a pulse.
We had previously reported that Chauvin has been shifted to one of the most secure prisons in the US on Sunday, May 31, night. Chauvin who is currently facing a murder charge in the death of George Floyd was transferred late on Sunday to Oak Park Heights Prison, which is Minnesota's only Level Five maximum security facility.