Police in Allentown, Pennsylvania, are investigating after an officer appeared to place his knee on the neck of a person during an incident, which was captured on video, drawing comparisons to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Before the arrest, officers saw the man “vomiting and staggering in the street” before he stopped at a hospital emergency room, the statement said. The man then started to scream, yell, and spit at the officers and hospital staff.
As officials tried to restrain the man, he “continued to be noncompliant,” the police department wrote, adding that officers had to restrain him. He was then taken into the hospital for treatment before he was treated and released.
The Lehigh County District Attorney will now investigate and review whether the officers used force in an appropriate manner during the incident.
The police statement doesn’t mention the allegation of an officer placing his knee on the individual’s neck.
The clip shared by Crump was only about 14 seconds long. It isn’t clear how long the officer kept his knee on the man’s neck.
Floyd, who is black, died in police custody on May 25 when former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes. Chauvin was later arrested on second-degree murder charges, while three other officers who were seen in the video footage were fired and charged with aiding and abetting.
Floyd’s death triggered widespread Black Lives Matter protests, riots, acts of arson, and looting incidents across Minneapolis and other cities. Activists then used the demonstrations to rally to “defund” or “abolish the police.”
Mayor Ray O'Connell, a Democrat, called the video “disturbing” and added that “I think we need to gather all the facts and information before we go forward,” according to the Morning Call.
The Allentown Police Department has not responded to requests for comment.
