George Floyd's death has started a global protest against police brutality and discrimination of people of color. People in the US have taken protests to the streets, which is only growing even after a month since Floyd's death. Now, an incident that took place in London has drawn people's ire after a police officer's actions reminded people of Floyd's death.
An extremely disturbing video showing a Black man's arrest has gone viral on social media platforms. The incident that involves two UK police officers and a Black man in north London has shocked the entire nation. The shocking video shows London's police force officer kneeling on a Black man's neck while he is handcuffed and pinned to the ground.
Cop kneels on Black man's neck
The video shows one of the two officers, who was White, applying pressure on the man's neck with his knee even as the suspect kept yelling "Get off me... get off my neck." The Black man can also be heard saying "I haven't done anything wrong, get off my neck."
Watching the video, people were quick to draw a comparison to the Floyd incident. An eye witness spoke to the BBC reacting to the incident and said: "I was worried he was going to get executed. That's just how George Floyd got killed. If not for the crowds filming the police they could have suffocated him or broken his neck. He was on the floor and in handcuffs, what's the reason for a kneeling on his neck?"
Officer suspended
Soon after the video was widely circulated on social media, drawing ire of the people, the London police force confirmed that the officer has been suspended and the second officer removed from operational duty. As for the suspect, who was arrested on Thursday on the suspicion of affray and possession of a dangerous weapon, has also been charged.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed shock over the officer's behaviour. "I'm deeply concerned about this distressing incident and we have raised this with senior officers at the Met Police as a matter of urgency. I welcome the fact the incident has been reviewed quickly by the Met and it's right that they have referred it to the IOPC."
