Video Shows Florida Cop Placing Knee On Neck Of Black Suspect

One week before George Floyd was killed while in the custody of four now-former Minneapolis police officers, a deputy in Florida pinned a domestic violence suspect to the ground by placing his knee on the man's neck. Floyd was killed in a similar manner, and his death sparked worldwide protests against racism and police brutality.

The suspect, identified as Patrick Carroll, did not seek medical attention at the time or file a formal complaint following his arrest. The Sarasota Police Department said that they did not learn about the incident until they were tagged in a video by Carroll's mother on Facebook.

The 90-second video, which was filmed on a cell phone, shows three officers trying to take Carroll into custody.

"Why am I being arrested?" he can be heard asking as one of the officers kneels on his neck.

The officer eventually moves his knee off of Carroll's neck and onto his back. Carroll was taken to the police station and charged with felony possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, resisting arrest, and domestic violence. He was released the following day.

Police officials placed the officer involved on administrative leave and vowed to launch an investigation. The department released a 13-minute unedited video from a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office helicopter that captured the May 18th arrest.

While authorities said that Carroll was resisting, they pointed out that officers are not trained to subdue a suspect by placing their knee on a person's neck.

"Utilizing your knee on someone's neck is not something that we train," Deputy Chief Patrick Robinson said. "It's not something that we authorize, and it's not something that we stand behind."

Photo: YouTube/Sarasota Police Department


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