MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, has called for an investigation into whether an officer broke any rules after a video surfaced of a woman being knocked to the ground during a protest related to the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said on social media Friday that he's asked Police Director Michael Rallings to investigate "an event that occurred Wednesday night with one of our officers and a female protester."
A video has been shared on television and social media that appears to show an officer shoving a woman to the ground. It's not clear whether she was injured
A racially mixed group of more than 70 people gathered outside the police precinct in Midtown Memphis and then walked down Union Avenue on Wednesday night to protest Floyd's death. Police set up barricades and blocked the avenue, a main Memphis thoroughfare. Officers later donned helmets, protective shields and other riot gear as the situation became increasingly strained and raucous late into the night.
Tensions also were escalated by the presence of a man who was holding a sign referencing a Confederate group.
The protest lasted for about four hours. It ended with five arrests and no visible property damage. But activists have questioned actions by police, including a lack of coronavirus-related social distancing, using barricades to limit the mobility of protesters, and wearing riot gear.
Kimberly Dollar, who shot the video, said she did not realize she had captured the woman being knocked down until she got home from the protest and reviewed her Snapchat videos.
"I didn't see anything that was crazy from my standing, so I'm not exactly sure why they brought out the riot gear," said Dollar, a 32-year-old restaurant server. "Apparently there was a target they were going for, and that girl was in the way, I guess."
Protesters were voicing their anger over Floyd's death in Minneapolis. Four police officers have been fired and investigations are underway after a white police officer was seen on video kneeling against the neck of Floyd, who was handcuffed and complained that he could not breathe. One of the officers has been arrested and charged with murder.
Floyd's death, and the killings in past months of a black man in Georgia and a black woman in Kentucky, have led to violent protests in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Columbus, Ohio, and peaceful demonstrations in other cities.
In Memphis, Strickland has said he shares the protesters' frustrations with the situation in Minnesota, but he criticized protesters who were not wearing masks and weren't observing social distancing rules set forth in a city order.
"By not doing so, protesters and our officers were unnecessarily put at risk," Strickland said in a statement Thursday.
The mayor's statement also said he was proud of the way the Memphis Police Department officers conducted themselves.
The Shelby County Democratic Party responded, saying it was officers who put lives in danger by placing protesters behind barricades and failing to stay 6 feet away from protesters and each other.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, a community activist, has alleged police were responsible for escalating the protest. Sawyer, who challenged Strickland in the last mayoral election, had demanded an investigation into the incident in which the woman was knocked down.
"I would love for the public to see a timeline on what that investigation looks like, and when the public will have a response on action," Sawyer said in a phone interview Friday. "I would like the mayor to retract his statement that he was proud of the response of MPD."