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Location of the incident in downtown Mannheim
Photo: René Priebe / dpa
The body of the man who died after a police operation in Mannheim is to be autopsied soon – according to the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) Baden-Württemberg, it is not yet known when exactly.
The 47-year-old collapsed during a police operation on Monday and later died in hospital.
According to the State Criminal Police Office, he fought back and was overpowered by the officers.
It is not yet clear what led to his death.
The man was a patient to be treated in the Mannheim psychiatric ward and ran away from there around 12 p.m.
A doctor then alerted the police and followed him, as an LKA spokesman said.
Two police officers and the doctor were able to locate the patient downtown.
A video later circulated on the Internet, apparently showing parts of the operation.
You can see how an officer hits the head of the man lying on the ground.
An LKA spokesman did not want to comment on Tuesday.
The video and other clues would need to be checked.
The police officers used "direct coercion" during the control, according to the LKA.
The investigators did not elaborate on this point.
The man was "in a state of emergency," said the LKA spokesman.
"It is unclear to what extent he was oriented." The police are relying on eyewitnesses to provide the police with additional videos from the site.
»We want to reconstruct what happened down to the last detail.«
Some of the reactions online are incomprehensible to the LKA spokesman.
“A shitstorm broke out over us on social media.
There is an accusation of racism.” References were immediately made to cases of police violence in the United States.
"Those who post this are stirring up anti-police sentiment without knowing what happened," the spokesman said.
"This is not a George Floyd case."
According to a police spokesman, around 100 to 150 people gathered on the Mannheim market square on Monday evening.
The demonstrators accused the police of racially motivated violence on signs.
The LKA wrote on Twitter: "To prevent false reports, the deceased is NOT a Turkish citizen."
The police did not say what nationality the man was on request.
That plays no role in the investigation, according to the LKA spokesman.
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