Officer suspended after video shows him kneeling on man
Dec 28, 2021, 1:52 PM | Updated: 2:06 pm
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi police officer has been suspended with pay after a video showed the officer pressing his knee into the back of a man who was being arrested.
The video, shot by an onlooker, shows Vicksburg police officer Eddie Colbert arresting a man after the department received a call about a downtown disturbance early Sunday, The Vicksburg Post reported.
The video shows Colbert pushing the man down onto a brick-paved street, WAPT-TV reported. The man was lying on his stomach when he raised his head and appeared to say something to the officer. The officer then forcefully knelt on the man’s back.
The man, John Dolley, was charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace, the Post reported.
Police Chief Penny Jones said Colbert has been suspended with pay during an investigation. The video did not show what happened before Colbert pushed Dolley onto the street.
Mayor George Flaggs Jr. is asking anyone with video of the incident to come forward. Because the incident happened in downtown Vicksburg, investigators will look at video from cameras posted in the area and from police body cameras.
News outlets reported Colbert was shot in the face in December 2020 while working as a security guard at a nightclub in Jackson.
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