US: Protests Erupt In Pennsylvania After Cop Uses Knee To Restrain Man

In the video shot on Saturday, officers in Allentown, Pennsylvania, can be seen restraining a man on the ground outside the emergency room of the Sacred Heart Campus of St Luke's Hospital. The video shows an officer first placing his elbow on the man's neck to hold him down. He then uses his knee to hold him down while other officers restrained his arms.

While the activists said that the police violated their own policy against neck restraints when an officer used his knee to bear down on the man's head, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania called it an illegal use of force.

On Monday night, hundreds of people marched in downtown Allentown, demanding for the officer to be fired. They also called for police funds to be reallocated to education, mental health and other social services.

Meanwhile, Allentown police on Monday said they are conducting a "use of force" investigation.

"The investigation into this incident is moving swiftly," the Allentown Police Department said in a statement. It added that the local district attorney will review the probe.

The police further said that the man appeared to be "suffering from a medical, mental health or drug and alcohol crisis." The officers were outside the hospital for an unrelated matter when they saw the man staggering in the street, vomiting and stopping in the driveway of the ER.

While the officers and hospital staff interacted with the man, he began to yell and spit at them. As he was noncompliant with the police, the officers had to restrain him, the statement added. The man was treated at the hospital and released, according to Al Jazeera.

The incident comes nearly seven weeks after George Floyd, a Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's death had sparked 'Black Lives Matter' protests across the globe.