A disturbing video has emerged showing a white Minneapolis police officer pinning a handcuffed black man to the ground with his knees on his neck for at least seven minutes before he loses consciousness and dies. The death is under investigation Tuesday by the FBI and state agents.
His death occurred Monday night after a struggle with police officers. A police statement said officers were responding to a “forgery in progress.”
“Officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence,” the statement said. “Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car.
“After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” the statement continued. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance.”
The video posted to social media shows an encounter between Minneapolis police officers and a man outside Cup Foods. In the nine-minute video, an officer can be seen kneeing a man to the pavement at the side of a squad car and the man can be heard groaning and repeatedly telling police “Please, I can’t breathe.”
“I believe what I saw, and what I saw was wrong at every level,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press conference Tuesday morning, per WCCO in Minneapolis, talking about the graphic footage. “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has joined the FBI in its investigation. The officers involved have been put on paid administrative leave, per department protocol.
