A video shared on social media early Tuesday shows black man passes out in Minneapolis police custody while a white police officer kneels on his neck during arrest as he pleaded he couldn’t breathe.
The unnamed man, believed to be in his 40s, later died of a “medical incident” after police officers responded to a report about a forgery in progress on Monday.
His death on Monday night is now under investigation by the FBI and state agents as the incident drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner in 2014.
Garner was an unarmed black man from New York who died after police placed him in a chokehold as he pleaded for his life saying he couldn’t breathe.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to the black community in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning.
“Being Black in America should not be a death sentence. For five minutes, we watched a white officer press his knee into a Black man’s neck. Five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you’re supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic, human sense,” the mayor posted.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis City Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins said in a statement to KARE, “Our community continues to be traumatized again, and again and again. We must demand answers.”
The incident began when two officers arrived at 3700 block of Chicago Avenue South around 8 p.m. on Monday.
The officers located the man inside his car, believing he is under the influence, and physically resisted officers after he got out of the vehicle.
In a news briefing early Tuesday, a Minneapolis police spokesperson said, “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and realized that the suspect was suffering a medical distress.”
“Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died a short time later,” the spokesperson added.
The man was unarmed and the officers did not use any weapons during the encounter.