Officer on leave after video shows him grabbing man by neck

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A police officer in Mississippi’s capital city is on leave after a video shows the officer holding a man by the neck.

Jackson Police James Davis tells the Clarion Ledger that department’s internal affairs division is investigating and trying to find out everything that happened.

“They were in a struggle, a scuffle,” Davis said.

In the video, the unnamed officer appears to grab a young man by the throat as a nearby bystander pleads with the officer that the man can’t breathe. The bystander then tries to loosen the officer’s grip on the man.

“He’s not breathing. He’s not breathing,” she says.

“Ma’am. You see my hands? I’m not even choking him,” the officer replies as he presses the man against a car.

The nature of the confrontation remains unclear. The officer repeatedly tells the young man that he asked him to leave.

“I asked you to leave. What did you do?” the officer asks.

The officer repeatedly yells into the young man’s face, daring him to resist, saying, “Make me. Make me. I said make me.”

No arrests were made, although a report was written, Davis said. The department didn’t immediately release a copy.

The chief said the Hinds County jail is not admitting prisoners on misdemeanor charges because of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s unclear what charges the young man faces.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba released a statement saying he was aware of the video.

“This administration is clear that we are trying to build an approach to public safety that is about trust, collaboration, and integrity,” Lumumba said. “Any Actions that do not reflect those principles have no place in the city of Jackson.”