Today marks one week since the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, a black man who died shortly after being restrained and arrested by Minneapolis police in the neighborhood of Powderhorn.
Video footage of Floyd's death showed former police officer Derek Chauvin holding his knee on Floyd's neck for a total of nearly nine minutes, and per state charging documents, bodycam footage also showed that Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck for two minutes and 43 seconds after Floyd had become non-responsive.
Floyd's death sparked widespread protests and riots across the US and in major cities around the world, as people marched for justice, an end to police brutality, and for the discrimination against black people to finally stop.
Today, footage has emerged online of showing a Seattle police officer removing his colleague's knee from a man's neck during an arrest.
The incident occurred on Saturday night, May 30, as protestors took to the streets of Seattle.
The footage can be seen in the post below:The footage was shared to Instagram by photographer Matt M. McKnight, who wrote alongside it:
"SPD officer uses knee-to-neck tactic while arresting multiple looters
"Last night around 10pm in Seattle looters had entered a T-Mobile store in downtown Seattle. When Seattle Police Department officers arrived the group attempted to escape without being captured. In this video, one officer decided to use a knee-on-neck tactic with the first looter he captured, and then diverted to use it again on yet another when the person tried to make a run for it.
"It was only when the crowd started screaming at the officers to stop that his colleague then moved the officer’s knee off his neck and onto his back before they carried him off to arrest."
In the video, officers can be seen responding to reports of an alleged looting at a T-Mobile store.
When law enforcement arrives, people can be seen attempting to flee the scene, with officers tackling several of them to the ground and restraining them.
An officer can be seen tackling a white man in an orange hoodie to the ground, as another officer runs over and applies the "knee-to-neck tactic" to hold the man down.
People can then be heard screaming: "Take your f**king knee off his neck" and "Get your knee off his neck!"
After roughly 12 seconds, the other arresting officer appears to grab his colleague's leg and lift it off the man’s neck.
On Friday it was revealed that Derek Chauvin, the fired police officer recorded kneeling on George Floyd's neck, had been detained and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
More on Chauvin's arrest below:The 19-year veteran was arrested by the state’s bureau of criminal apprehension.
Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman revealed in a statement: "We are in the process of continuing to review the evidence. There may be additional charges later."
Floyd's family has since released a statement calling Chauvin's arrest a "welcome but overdue step on the road to justice” and added that members “expected a first-degree murder charge" - which they still demand.
"The pain that the black community feels over this murder and what it reflects about the treatment of black people in America is raw and spilling out on to streets across [the country]," the statement added.
The statement concluded by saying:
"Today, George Floyd's family is having to explain to his children why their father was executed by police on video. It's essential that the City closely examines and changes its policing policies and training procedures to correct for the lack of proper field supervision; the use of appropriate, non-lethal restraint techniques; the ability to recognize medical signs associated with the restriction of airflow, and the legal duty to seek emergency medical care and stop a civil rights violation."
Under Minnesota law, a first-degree murder charge would require prosecutors to prove Chauvin’s actions were willful and premeditated.