Video from Schenectady, New York shows a heated encounter between a man and law enforcement. Footage shows a police officer kneeling on an individual’s neck. It happened Monday on Brandywine Avenue, according to The Times Union.
The person who recorded the incident was described as the man’s father. He frantically cried out to the officer.
“What has he done to you?” the father asked. “What’s he done to you? Hey, you’re got your foot on his head! You’re got your foot on his head!”
The officer ordered the father to go inside. The circumstances behind the encounter and the identities of those involved remain unclear.
The Schenectady Police Department did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment, but the video is certainly on their radar.
“I have directed the police chief to open an immediate review of the matter,” Mayor Gary McCarthy said, according to The Daily Gazette. The official said he hadn’t seen the footage yet, only a screenshot.
The incident happens six weeks after the May 25 death of Minnesota man George Floyd. Prosecutors said then-cop Derek Chauvin kneeled on the victim’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, even after Floyd became unresponsive. Chauvin and three other cops were fired over the incident. They were then charged in a murder case. Floyd’s death intensified an ongoing national debate over how law enforcement officers treat people of color, especially Black men.
In response to the Schenectady footage, local activist group All of Us scheduled a protest–“Get Your Knee Off Our Neck”–to take place on Monday 5 p.m. at the police station.
[Screengrab via Times Union]
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