Minister Reul sees officials relieved by more video images

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The incident occurred in the old town of Düsseldorf

The controversial police operation against a 15-year-old in Düsseldorf's old town was filmed by additional video cameras. According to the responsible interior minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the pictures relieve the officials. The recordings show that the 15-year-old was "fixed on the head", reported Reul (CDU) to the interior committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.

As a result, the use would have been permissible and lawful under the law. The investigations have not yet been concluded, stressed Reul. Restraint of the head is considered an acceptable use of force, but pressure on the neck is not.

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An officer had fixed the 15-year-old with his leg on the floor when he was arrested. The previously published short sequence of the incident sparked outrage because it aroused associations with the George Floyd case in the USA. The 46-year-old African American was killed in a police operation on May 25 after a white officer pressed his knee on his neck for minutes. His death had sparked demonstrations against racism and police violence in numerous US cities and other countries.

"Get your knee down, brother"

In the video from Düsseldorf you can hear bystanders yelling to the policeman: "Put your knee down, brother" and "That's not funny".

The Düsseldorf police had initially announced: The scene took place around 7.30 p.m. last Saturday evening on Neustraße in the old town. The officials were previously called to a nearby restaurant because about ten people had rioted there.

A young person who was apparently uninvolved in the actual event then "disrupted" the police measures. When the officers wanted to record his personal details, he attacked them "physically" and then resisted. He was taken to the police station and then handed over to a legal guardian.

A spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalian interior ministry said: "We take this video very seriously." Should there be any misconduct by police officers during the deployment, this will of course be followed up consistently. The policeman's lawyer defended the measure as exemplary.

lmd / dpa