Video shows a Seattle police officer forcibly remove the knee of another officer from a person's neck during an arrest
A video posted to Twitter late Saturday reportedly shows a Seattle police officer kneeling on the neck of a man being arrested outside of a T-Mobile store for about 15 seconds before another officer forcibly pushed his knee away.
The video, which lasts for about 45 seconds, was posted from Seattle, Washington, just after 10 p.m. local time by Crosscut journalist Matt McKnight. It begins with two police officers forcing a man in an orange sweatshirt to the ground. Once the man is laying on the street, one officer places his knee on the neck as the officers work to detain him.
McKnight told Insider the video was recorded Saturday night at around 10 p.m. local time after people had broken into a T-Mobile store in downtown Seattle.
"This person was one of the group of about 20 individuals who tried to escape when Seattle Police Department arrived on scene," McKnight said. "If you watch the other video full-length video you can see the officer diverted from another arrest to get him."
The longer video of the incident, which McKnight shared about an hour later, shows officers making other arrests when the man in the orange sweatshirt began to run, prompting the officers to tackle him to the ground.
"Get your f---ing knee off his neck," one man not seen in the video can be heard screaming repeatedly.
A woman, also not seen in the video, is heard shouting a similar plea.
Neither of the officers acknowledges the calls, though about 12 seconds in the clip, the other arresting officer appears to tap the leg of the officer who has his knee on the man's neck. About a second later, the officer forcibly pushes the officer's leg from the man's neck to his back amid continued pleas from onlookers.
Protests — that have often turned violent — have erupted around the country since Tuesday in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was killed on May 25 while in police custody. In a video of the altercation that preceded his death, a police officer can be seen kneeling on his neck for several minutes, ignoring his pleas that he couldn't breathe.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday. Three other officers involved in the incident have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department but so far have not faced charges. The US Department of Justice said it was investigating Floyd's death.
According to CNN, the controversial knee-to-neck move is prohibited in several major cities but is allowed in Minneapolis. It's unclear whether the tactic is permitted among members of the Seattle Police Department.
The Seattle Police Department did not immediately return an Insider request for comment on Sunday.
