A white male sheriff’s deputy in Texas is now on administrative leave pending an investigation after a video clip emerged of him lying on top of a crying Black woman went viral, according to the local CBS station.
The seven-minute video posted on Wednesday on Facebook shows a white police officer lying on top of a crying Black woman as she appears to vomit and says, “I can’t breathe.” The officer, identified as Kaufman County Deputy Conner Martin, is lying on top of 18-year-old Nekia Trigg as women around them scream.
Local residents had apparently contacted the Kaufman County sheriff’s department to report Trigg, of Forney, was jumping in front of cars, possibly in a suicidal manner.
After the social media video surfaced on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office in Kaufman County was inundated with calls and demands from Dallas activists requesting the deputy in question be terminated, WFAA reported.
It led to the sheriff’s office to releasing unedited body camera footage of the incident, along with 911 calls, the network reported. The office also opened an investigation into Martin and placed him on administrative leave.
The police footage showed Martin’s body camera fall off as he struggled to contain Trigg. It shows the early stages of the incident when the deputy first engages with Trigg.
“What’s wrong? How come you’re crying,” Martin says at the start of the video.
“Why are you here,” Trigg responds.
“Just to talk to you. Make sure you’re okay,” he said.
The officer then puts his hand on Trigg’s shoulder, then grabs the teenager’s arm.
“I don’t want you to hurt me,” she said.
“If you keep pulling away I got a put you in handcuffs though,” Martin said.
He continued to try and calm Trigg down, saying he wouldn’t hurt her.
“You’re hurting me already,” Trigg said.
“Sit down okay,” said Martin, before his body cam falls off.
In the earlier video posted on social media, Trigg’s mother, 41-year-old Antanique Ray, appears to tell her daughter to “just calm down,” as the officer lies back down on top of Trigg. Ray then begins holding Trigg’s hand as Martin continues pinning Trigg’s wrists to the ground.
Another girl says Trigg’s name and keeps telling her, “just calm down.” Another person exclaims, “It’s 102 degrees out here.”
Trigg, still pinned under Martin, then says, “I can’t breathe.” At some point, she appears to vomit as Martin continues holding her down.
Martin and another officer then instruct Trigg to roll over. They roll her over and handcuff her as she cries.
As the officers walk Trigg towards a patrol car, the camera view gets blocked by the officers’ bodies. Then, Martin yells, “Let go of her!” twice before tackling Ray to the ground in the middle of the street.
An officer with a Taser then threatens bystanders to get back as Ray is arrested. Near the end of the video, the girl apparently recording says: “You got seven police out here, for three little Black girls.”
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