A still frame from the video (Via CNN)
A sheriffs deputy in Kaufman County, Texas, has been placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced showing him on top of an 18-year-old Black woman, and then arresting her mother.
In the video, the woman - Nekia Trigg - being held down is heard yelling, "I cant breathe."
The incident happened during a police encounter on Tuesday afternoon in Forney. Officers arrived after receiving a call that a young woman was suicidal and walking into traffic in an attempt to get hit by a car.
The woman was crying but told the officers she was OK and that she was just going home.
In the body camera footage, the deputy, reportedly named Conner Martin, explained he cannot let her leave on her own and that he was not going to hurt her.
"I dont want you to hurt me," the woman said. She then can be heard saying, "Youre hurting me," before the camera fell to the ground.
The womans mother and sister arrived and saw Martin sitting on top of Nekia holding her hands above her head.
"You can get up. You dont have to do her like this," the woman says as she grabs her daughters hand to console her.
The deputy says he cannot get up because the teen had attempted suicide.
A second deputy comes and turns her over onto her stomach so she can be placed in handcuffs.
In the video, the mother accuses Martin of failing to record the incident and asks the deputies to loosen the handcuffs. Martin is seen taking the mother to the ground and arresting her.
Trigg was taken to a mental health facility for evaluation and was released later.
The familys lawyer, Kim T. Cole, said, "Physical injuries from an auto accident will eventually heal, however, the psychological damage this deputy caused will be with Nekia for the rest of her life."
Martin was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into the incident.
Later Antanique Ray, the womans mother, said, "When I walked up and saw the officer on my daughter, it was nothing but God that allowed me to stay as calm as I was," she said. "Everything in me just went numb. My only focus was getting to my daughter."
Ray said she was not aware of what exactly had happened, but she was scared.
"Im not crazy. I know what ... the statistics are for that type of situation," she said.
In a video released last week, two officers are seen choking a Black man and aiming a gun at his head, while tying to arrest him in Colorado.
In another one released on Monday, an Atlanta police officer is seen kicking a handcuffed black woman in the face.
Police brutality against people of color has sparked mass protests across the US in recent years.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/23331
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