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Protesters in Allentown, Pennsylvania pressured the city and police leadership to release an additional video of the violent detainment of a man outside of an area hospital last weekend.
The original 26-second video clip showed an Allentown police officer kneeling on a man’s neck and head on Saturday night. Officers say the man yelled and spit at officers and was “non-compliant.”
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According to a local report from CBS3 in Philadelphia, the man was taken inside the hospital and treated, but police say he was never arrested.
The additional video was provided by the Allentown Police Department and is an additional nine minutes of footage from a surveillance camera across the street. In their statement, the department describes the footage saying that the video begins with the man being seen staggering and vomiting.
The state that the man appears to be suffering from a medical, mental health, or alcohol crisis. The department states that the two officers who interacted with him were at the hospital on an unrelated matter. Near the end of the video, officers and hospital staff are seen putting a mask on the man.
The department notes that an investigation is ongoing and that the Lehigh County District Attorney would release its findings later this week.
Justan Parker, a local leader for Black Lives Matter told CBS3 that, “people think it couldn’t happen here and it has been happening and it happened yesterday.” The man said referring to police brutality, “So enough is enough.”
The social justice organization released an alternate angle of the incident.
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Earlier this month, Allentown police released its use of force policy. The policy bans chokeholds and neck restraints like the one seen in the video.
Protesters walked through the heart of the city stopping off at the county jail. “We have an organized protest against police brutality, against the excessive use of force seen here in Allentown and against the entire system,” Parker said.
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