San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has decided to drop resisting arrest charges against a teenager after cellphone video of his arrest revealed a knee-to-neck restraint was used, according to a report in the San Francisco Examiner.
Many are comparing the incident to the arrest in Minneapolis, where an officer used the same restraint, and George Floyd died in custody.
In the video released by the San Francisco Police Department, an officer is seen kneeling on the neck of 19-year-old Kajon Busby during an arrest, the Examiner reports.
Busby was accused of threatening his neighbor and resisting arrest, the newspaper says. After personally reviewing the cellphone footage shot by a bystander, Boudin said it resembles what happened to Floyd, and he will not pursue those charges.
Boudin on Tuesday proposed a resolution urging the Civil Service Commission to never again hire officers who have a history of excessive force. The history of the officer in Busby's arrest is unclear, but the knee is listed as one of many "personal body weapons" in the SFPD's use-of-force policy.
"Our priority is not to find out about people’s dirty laundry, but to simply make sure people with that dirty laundry don’t come to serve," Boudin said Tuesday.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association said Boudin dropping the charges against Busby is another example of him putting criminals first.
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If passed, Boudin’s resolution will go into effect within two weeks.
