Off-duty Kenosha cop places his knee on 12-year-old girl's neck
Off-duty Kenosha cop, 37, is under fire for placing his knee on 12-year-old girl’s neck after breaking up a fight with another student
- The incident occurred at Lincoln Middle School’s cafeteria in Kenosha on Friday
- Investigators said that the police officer was trying to break up a fight between the student and another girl
- The 12-year-old girl suffered neck injuries, her furious father said
- Kenosha Police Department would not release the cop’s name but confirmed he is 37 years old and has been on the force for four years
- KPD has not revealed any disciplinary action against the officer
- The dad shared a picture of the officer restraining his daughter side-by-side with a photo of Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck
- Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represented Floyd’s family, has demanded swift justice
- ‘We KNOW just how dangerous this incident could have been, yet the officer has NOT faced any repercussions! He needs to be held accountable!’ Crump tweeted
Troubling video showing an off-duty Kenosha cop putting his knee on the neck of a 12-year-old girl while breaking up a fight at a middle school has sparked fury in the Wisconsin city where Kyle Rittenhouse killed two people in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The 17-second viral clip shows the officer trying to separate two girls before he was knocked to the ground by the sixth-grader in a rainbow sweatshirt in the cafeteria of Lincoln Middle School last Friday.
He then scrambles to his feet and restrains the pre-teen by putting his knee on her neck, a move that quickly brought back memories of the confrontation that led to the death of George Floyd.
It is unclear from the video how long the cop kept his knee on the girl’s neck.
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represented the Floyd’s family, as well as the families of Blake, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, has demanded swift justice.
‘An off-duty Wisconsin police officer placed his KNEE into a 12-year-old’s neck after she was involved in an altercation w/ another student!’ he tweeted. ‘We KNOW just how dangerous this incident could have been, yet the officer has NOT faced any repercussions! He needs to be held accountable!’
The Kenosha Police Department would not release the cop’s name but confirmed he is 37 years old and has been on the force for four years. The KPD has not revealed any disciplinary action against the officer.
‘K.P.D. has seen the video clip and has seen the photo which has been widely shared on social media over the weekend,’ the department said in a statement released Monday.
‘We are keenly aware of the significant sensitivity surrounding the photo. K.P.D., together with K.U.S.D. is investigating the incident in its entirety while being cautious not to make conclusions based off of a small piece of information shared on social media.’
The unidentified off-duty Kenosha cop restrains 12-year-old girl by placing his knee on her neck in move reminiscent of the one used by Derek Chauvin to kill George Floyd
The cop intervened after the girl in the rainbow sweatshirt got into a fight with another girl
The cop wrestled the pre-teen to the ground before putting his knee on her neck, according to the17-second clip, which has since gone viral
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represented Floyd’s family, tweeted that the police officer needs ‘to be held accountable’
At the time of the fight, he was working off duty for the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) – which is allowed by the police department – but has now been placed on paid leave from the school, according to KUSD.
‘This part-time KUSD employee, who was hired as an off-duty Kenosha police officer, is currently on a paid leave from the district. We appreciate your patience as we work with the Kenosha Police Department to investigate the facts surrounding this incident,’ the school district said in a statement.
School district employees who were monitoring the cafeteria also intervened to stop the fight, with one staff member getting injured, police said.
The 12-year-old student’s father, Jerrel Perez wrote on Facebook that his daughter was ‘complaining of her neck hurting bad’ following the incident and that police ‘have the nerves to lock her up and fingerprint her.’
The unidentified girl is facing a juvenile disorderly conduct charge, the dad said, who added that she will not be returning to the school.
Drew Devinney, the lawyer of the 12-year-old student’s family, refused to comment on the incident.
‘We can’t make any comments at this time until we’ve had an opportunity to do our own investigation,’ he said. ‘So, we’re gonna stay mum for now.’
Perez compared the moment his daughter was being kneed on by the Kenosha Police officer with a picture of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd in May 2020 on Facebook
The 12-year-old student’s father, Jerrel Perez, called the Kenosha Police officer a ‘coward’ on Facebook and said that his daughter was ‘complaining of her neck hurting bad’
Perez, who has nine kids, said that his daughter would not be returning to classes and that she faces being charged as a juvenile
Kenosha Police Department would not confirm the identity of the police officer to Dailymail.com and did not elaborate on the chain of events that caused the incident.
KPD is still investigating the incident and said it ‘will look to our respective policies and procedures for guidance in this circumstance.’
Meanwhile, Perez has been vocal about the incident on Facebook, sharing a picture of the moment the officer restrained his daughter side-by-side with a 2020 picture of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
‘TELL ME WHATS THE DIFFRENCE LUCKILY HE AINT KILL MY BABIE,’ Perez, who uses the Facebook handle Maserati Jizzle, wrote. ‘I’M OVERLY BLEW (sic) AND TRYING TO KEEP MY ANGER FROM OVER COMING.’
The Kenosha Unified School District canceled a ‘special’ school board meeting’ that was supposed to take place on Tuesday night.
‘It’s disheartening to see another negative and traumatic event in Kenosha schools receiving publicity and attention,’ Kenosha Education Association President Tanya Kitts-Lewinski said in a statement sent to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
‘Situations like the one at Lincoln Middle School continue to illustrate the need for adequate and frequent training in de-escalation tactics, proper restraint holds, and restorative justice practices for all adults in a school building,’ she added.
‘We hope everyone involved recovers from any injuries they may have sustained and that this incident can be the catalyst to evaluate current policies and practices in place around school conflict resolution.’
Kenosha gained infamy in 2020 after Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, shot dead two people and wounded a third during protests over the police shooting of Blake, 29, who is now fully paralyzed. Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges at the high-profile trial last year.
The police officer was working part-time at Lincoln Middle School, which is allowed by the department
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