The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to investigate the death of a black man in the United State (U.S.) state of Minnesota after a video emerged showing a policeman kneeling on his neck.
In the footage, the man, believed to be in his 40s, is heard groaning and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” to the white officer.
The Minneapolis Police Department said it was responding to a reported crime.
The incident echoed that of Eric Garner, a black man who died being arrested in 2014.
Garner was placed in a chokehold and uttering the words “I can’t breathe” nearly a dozen times.
The phrase became a rallying cry for activists protesting alleged police brutality against people of colour in the U.S.
The Minnesota Police admitted that the man in the footage filmed on Monday died after a “medical incident” in a “police interaction”.
He was suspected of committing a forgery, meaning to have been fraudulently altering or making a false reproduction of a product.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the incident as “completely and utterly messed up”.
“I believe what I saw and what I saw is wrong on every level,” Frey said. “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”
It is the latest accusation of U.S. police brutality against African Americans. Recent high-profile cases include an officer in Maryland, who fatally shot a man inside a patrol car.
