In Brazil, an incident caused outrage in which a police officer put a black woman’s foot on the back of the neck and pushed her to the ground. As can be seen in a cell phone video, the military police official even lifts his other foot in a moment, apparently placing his entire body weight in the foot, with which he is holding the woman face down.
She had lost consciousness four times, the 51-year-old told TV Globo. „The more I resisted, the more he pressed on my neck.“ The woman did not want to give her name out of fear of reprisals by the security authorities. The Brazilian military police are known for their often brutal behavior.
Memories of Floyd
The incident in the metropolis of Sao Paulo occurred at the end of May, but has only now become known through the mobile phone video shown by TV Globo. The scene shown therein commemorates the death of African American George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis. He died after a white policeman pressed his knee back for almost nine minutes.
Floyd’s death had sparked worldwide protests against police violence and racism. Such demonstrations also took place in Brazil, albeit on a smaller scale than in the United States and other countries.
Governor: Scenes „Generate Disgust“
The video from Sao Paulo also shows the policeman dragging another woman over the asphalt and handcuffing her. According to the São Paulo government, officials involved in the incident have been suspended and an investigation has been launched against them.
The scenes shown in the video „generate disgust,“ wrote Governor Joao Doria in the short message service Twitter. Such „unnecessary violence“ by police officers is „unacceptable“. The 51-year-old owns a small bar. According to her own account, she came to the aid of a friend who had been attacked by the police.
