DC police officer dragged to his feet by colleagues after kneeling with protesters

WASHINGTON - Video shows a Washington, D.C. police officer being dragged to his feet by his colleagues after the officer knelt in apparent solidarity with George Floyd protesters.

Captured during the May 31 protests in the city, the video shows an officer, identified as A. Prather by his uniform, taking a knee before one of his fellow officers approaches and pulls him up.

 Prather takes a knee once again, which prompts multiple officers to try and lift him up, causing Prather to lose his balance.

“That’s what I’m talking about, Prather!” a person can be heard yelling from off-screen. 

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“I respect that! I respect that!” another person says in praise of Prather’s actions. Prather remains standing for the rest of the video, where he would be approached by two other officers who seemed to be sharing a message with him.

According to a tweet that features additional footage captured during the events, a female officer had reportedly also knelt in solidarity with protesters.

Across the country, individuals have been taking to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in custody of Minneapolis police, as well as other incidents of police brutality. Video shows that Derek Chauvin, a former officer who has since been charged with third-degree murder, had knelt on Floyd’s next for an extended period of time prior to his death. 

Floyd’s death would later be ruled a homicide.

The protests have ranged from peaceful to violent, with instances of looting and vandalism reported in major cities across the country. Many local and state leaders have implemented mandatory curfews for residents, while others have requested the presence of the National Guard.

Washington, D.C. was among the cities in which a mandatory Monday night curfew was implemented, where more than 20 people were arrested for refusing to clear the streets, according to FOX 5.

 Crowds of protesters gathered just near the White House that day, not too far from the Rose Garden where President Donald Trump would warn governors that he would deploy military across the United States “to solve the problem for them" amid the protests. 

Arlington County, Virginia, pulled its officers out of the District of Columbia Monday night after they played a supporting role in clearing protesters from a park outside the White House so the president could walk to a church for a photo opportunity.

The County Board issued a statement saying its officers were used “for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations.”

Arlington officers joined a team of federal law enforcers using chemical agents and flash bangs to forcibly remove a large group of peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park.

That cleared a path for Trump, vowing a crackdown from the Rose Garden, to walk in front of the White House over to St. John's Church, which had been damaged in earlier protests. Trump then posed with a Bible for a few minutes.

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