Minneapolis mayor calls for white police officer to be charged in black man's death

(Reuters) - Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called on prosecutors to file criminal charges against a white police officer caught on a bystander’s video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man who later died at a hospital.

The officer along with three others involved in the apprehension of George Floyd, 46, were dismissed from the police force on Tuesday, the day after the deadly incident unfolded in Minnesota’s largest city.

The video, which has raised a national outcry, shows an African-American man lying face down in the street with a white officer pinning his knee against his throat.

The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, the union that represents the city’s police force, said in a statement to local media the officers were cooperating with the investigation and it was “not time to rush to judgment.”.

The case is reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City, who died after being put in a police chokehold and telling the officers, “I can’t breathe.” The officer who placed Garner in a fatal chokehold was fired but not criminally prosecuted.

A protest was planned for Wednesday in front of the home of a police officer organizers say was involved in the incident, according to a posting on Facebook.