A Michigan police officer has been placed on administrative leave after he and several other cops were caught on video pinning a man to a sidewalk and repeatedly hitting him.
The footage, which was captured by a witness in his car late Tuesday, shows an unidentified 25-year-old assault suspect in a struggle with Lansing officers before he’s taken to the ground.
Five cops then order the man to comply as they continue to scuffle on the sidewalk amid heavy rain, the clip shows.
“Get on your back!” one officer yells. “Get on your back now!”
At least three officers then strike the man, including with blows to the head, the video shows.
“Why are you hitting me?” the man asks, as the witness pleads with the officers.
“Please don’t kill him,” the cameraman, identified by the Lansing State Journal as Brandon Hayduk, interjects. “Please don’t kill him.”
The man keeps resisting while officers continue to tell him to get on his stomach.
“I didn’t do it,” the man argues.
At another point, the suspect says “I can’t breathe,” the Lansing State Journal reported.
The man is later seen being detained by an officer while yelling the name of George Floyd, whose police-custody death in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests earlier this year.
“George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd!” he says. “Black Lives Matter! Black Lives Matter!”
After video of Tuesday’s incident started circulating online, Lansing police said in a statement Wednesday that the officers were responding to a fight involving up to six people and determined the 25-year-old man was the primary suspect.
“During the lengthy struggle to secure the suspect, officers deployed a Taser and delivered strikes,” department officials said.
The unidentified man was arrested and taken to a hospital for observation. He has since been transferred to a detention center as formal charges are sought by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office, police said.
Two cops had minor injuries after the incident, which remains under investigation. One of the officers involved, meanwhile, has been suspended by Chief Daryl Green with pay as that probe continues, police said.
