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(CNN) - A Florida police officer is under investigation for allegedly pushing a black protester who was kneeling during a protest over the death of George Floyd. Meanwhile one of his colleagues, a black woman who is part of the police force, is being praised for apparently reprimanding him after the push.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department confirmed to CNN that Officer Steven Pohorence was released from service and is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into the incident.
It happened during a rally on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, one of dozens of protests that took place across the country in the past week after George Floyd's death in police custody. Many of them have been peaceful, but some have become violent.
WATCH: PHOTOS | Pain and rage: Protests over George Floyd's death add up to days and riots around the United States
In a video captured by Instagram user @ Illustrious.CEO, a cameraman who asked CNN not to use his name for security reasons, the accused agent is seen approaching protesters and telling them to back off.
Some protesters knelt down and began singing "hands up, don't shoot," the cameraman told CNN. The officer then appears to have pushed a protester who was on his knees. "It was then that the agitation began," said the cameraman.
But when the agent retired to his patrol, two other policemen quickly ran after him. One of the officers, identified by the department's public information office as Agent Krystal Smith in an email sent to CNN, appears to be yelling and scolding him with his finger.
The man who filmed the video did not hear what he said, but said that Smith, a black woman, "seemed upset."
"You could tell she was talking to him angry," she said. "She was upset that she had to witness that," she added.
Police and local officials praised Smith for his actions at two separate press conferences on Monday, but said the incident occurred when tensions were already high between protesters and police.
READ: The 4 former agents involved in the death of George Floyd now face charges and Chauvin is accused of a more serious charge
Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione said the incident occurred about an hour after the main protest ended, when an agent told colleagues that she was surrounded and feeling threatened, and another agent was in his vehicle said it was attacked. Police are still putting together the timeline of the events, he explained, but they believe the agent was filmed pushing the protester at some point during that police response.
However, local school board official Rosalind Osgood thanked Smith for taking steps “to control her colleague” when she acted “out of the norm,” and Maglione praised “the other officers who were there for identifying that there was a problem pretty fast. "
The chief of police said the agent "will remain home" until the Florida Police Department completes its investigation. When that happens, the Fort Lauderdale Police say it will conduct its own administrative investigation to determine if it violated the police engagement protocol.
CNN attempted to contact Agent Pohorence through its union, the Fort Lauderdale Police Fraternal Order, but the institution declined to comment, citing the "open and ongoing investigation."
Racism in the United States