An off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard at a middle school in Wisconsin has resigned after he was caught on video kneeling on a 12-year-old girl's neck.
The incident happened on March 4 at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about 50 minutes south of Milwaukee.
According to police, two students were fighting in the cafeteria when several staff members, including the 37-year-old Kenosha Police officer, intervened to try and stop the physical fight. One staff member was injured, police said.
Video of the incident, which was shared widely on social media, shows the officer either being pushed or falling backward and hitting his head on the edge of a nearby table, CNN reported. He then is seen on top of a female student and appears to hold her head against the ground with one hand and place his knee on her neck, according to the report.
It's not clear how long the officer had his knee on the girl's neck.
Police have watched the video and are investigating together with the Kenosha Unified School District.
"It is the highest priority of those officers who work in our schools to provide a safe and secure learning environment for our children and staff," the police department said in a statement.
The officer resigned effective Tuesday, March 16, a district spokeswoman told CNN. The district offered no additional comment as the incident remains under investigation.
Meantime, the girl's parents are calling for criminal charges to be filed, ABC News reported. They also plan to take legal action against police and the school. She allegedly suffered neck injuries and is receiving medical treatment.
"She's humiliated, she's traumatized. Every day I gotta hear, 'Daddy, I don't wanna go to school,'" Jerrel Perez, said during a press conference. "It breaks me because I wasn't there to help her... I felt helpless."
Perez compared the incident to what happened to George Floyd -- a Black Minnesota man who died in May 2020 after a white police officer placed a knee on his neck for nine minutes and refused to get up, despite Floyd's pleas that he couldn't breathe.
"I want to see this officer get charged," he said.
Related
Related
