A police officer who was recorded walking his bike over the head of a man lying on the ground in Seattle has been placed on administrative leave, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) announced Thursday.
The incident took place during Wednesday protests in Seattle, as the SPD officer "walked the wheels of his bicycle over an individual lying in the street". According to a police statement, a Force Investigation Team (FIT) was activated immediately after the incident became known.
"OPA [Office of Police Accountability] has opened an investigation into the incident. The officer has been placed on administrative leave. Following the request from the OPA, the SPD has referred the incident to the King County Sheriff’s Office for a potential criminal investigation", Seattle police stated.
The footage of the incident circulated online, causing hot debate between those who decried the officer's actions and those who questioned the situation, suggesting that the man fell down right in front of the officer as a means of provoking just such an interchange.
A second video emerged, allegedly showing what was happening "5 minutes before" the incident, revealing the man in a helmet lying on the ground and another person approaching him to help, but stopped by police officers demanding that the person offering assistance "get back".
According to The Washington Post, SPD police detective Mark Jamieson said that the man was not injured and was taken into custody.
SPD also said in the statement that over a dozen arrests were made during protests in the city, as demonstrators "attacked businesses" in the area, launched "an incendiary device into the East Precinct nearly hitting officers" and "violently striked [sic] an SPD officer in the head with a metal baseball bat".
New protests in Seattle, as well as in other US cities, erupted after a decision by the Kentucky attorney general to spare police officers involved in the killing of a black woman, Breonna Taylor, from being prosecuted over her death.