Video released of white officer kneeling on Black teen near Las Vegas school in incident that sparked George Floyd comparison
LAS VEGAS — School officials in Las Vegas have released police reports and body camera footage under court order showing a campus officer kneeling on a Black student last year — an incident that drew accusations of police brutality after bystander video of it circulated widely on social media.
LAS VEGAS — School officials in Las Vegas have released police reports and body camera footage under court order showing a campus officer kneeling on a Black student last year — an incident that drew accusations of police brutality after bystander video of it circulated widely on social media.
In his incident report, Clark County School District police Lt. Jason Elfberg said the teen, whose name is redacted, refused to move away from officers handcuffing another student while investigating a report that a gun had been brandished the previous day and a threat had been made to “shoot up” a Las Vegas school. No weapon was found.
The actions of Elfberg, who is white, pinning the teen beneath his knee next to a patrol vehicle drew public protests, comparisons to the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, calls for Elfberg’s firing and an American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada lawsuit that forced school officials to release information.
A protest against police violence on Feb. 17, 2023, in Las Vegas. John Locher / AP fileElfberg’s attorney, Adam Levine, told The Associated Press ahead of the release of the bodycam videos that his client, a 14-year police veteran, was cleared of wrongdoing by the district and remains on the school police force.
A student who said police handcuffed him during the encounter for jaywalking told KVVU-TV at the time that the incident reminded him of the killing of Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.
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