*A white male sheriff’s deputy in Texas is on administrative leave pending an investigation after video him lying on top of a crying Black teen went viral as she said “I can’t breathe,” went viral.
According to reports, the Kaufman County, Texas sheriff’s department received a call that 18-year-old Nekia Trigg of Fourney was jumping in front of cars in traffic. When the seven-minute video begins, an officer, identified as Kaufman County Deputy Conner Martin, is laying on top of Trigg as women around try to diffuse the situation.
Trigg’s mother, 41-year-old Antanique Ray, tells Martin, “You don’t have to ever hit her, okay? She will stay down.”
Martin tells Ray, “You need to back up. You need to back up.” As Ray touches Martin’s hand, gripping her daughter’s wrist, Martin starts screaming, “Do not touch me! Back up! Back up!”
Ray responds, “Just calm down,” as the officer lays back down on top of Trigg. She begins holding her hand as Martin continues pinning Trigg’s wrist to the ground. One girl says Trigg’s name and keeps telling her, “Just calm down.” Another person exclaims, “It’s 102 degrees out here.”
Trigg, still pinned under Martin, says, “I can’t breathe.” At some point, she appears to vomit as Martin continues holding her down. Martin and another officer then instruct Trigg to roll over. They do so and handcuff her as she cries.
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Ray then screams at Martin, “I need your f*cking badge number and your name.” She then notices Martin’s body camera dangling from his shirt and asks why it wasn’t secured in place while he was laying on top of her child.
As the officers walk Trigg towards a patrol car, a skirmish erupts and Martin yells, “Let go of her!” twice before tackling Ray to the ground in the middle of the street.
Near the end of the video, the girl recording it says, “You got seven police out here, for three little Black girls.”
Ray was detained in the Kaufman County jail on charges of assault of a public servant and interference with public duties, according to the Dallas Morning News. She was released on bond. Police took Trigg to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
After the video surfaced on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office was flooded with calls from Dallas activists demanding the deputy in question be fired, WFAA reported. It led the sheriff’s office to release unedited body camera footage of the incident, along with 911 calls, the network reported. The office also opened an investigation into Martin and placed him on administrative leave.
“Nekia was simply walking home and somebody called the police & said she was trying to jump in front of cars,” the woman who posted the video on Instagram wrote in the video’s caption.
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