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Viral video shows police officer kneeling on groaning, motionless man's neck. The man later dies.
Image source: Facebook video screenshot

Viral video shows police officer kneeling on groaning, motionless man's neck. The man later dies.

Because of a 'forgery in progress'

A widely shared viral video shows the moment a Minneapolis police officer kneels on the neck of a motionless, groaning man in the street.

The man, who was reportedly a suspect of a "forgery in progress," can be heard telling the officer that he cannot breathe and that everything hurts.

The man later dies.

What happened in the video?

As highlighted by CBS News, the incident took place on Monday night. The unnamed officer responds to a call of a "forgery in progress," where he encounters the suspect.

Video of the incident begins by showing the suspect on the ground with the officer's knee on the suspect's neck.

"Please," he can be heard begging. "I can't breathe."

The officer does not remove his knee despite the man's pleas.

"My stomach hurts, my neck hurts. Everything hurts," the moaning suspect can be heard saying. "[I need] water or something. Please. Please, I can't breathe officer. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe."

The man's nose reportedly begins to bleed, and he groans some more.

Onlookers can be heard in the background of the video, pleading with the officer to get up.

"He's not resisting arrest or nothing," one male can be heard saying. "You're enjoying it. Look at you. Your body language — you bum! You know that's bogus right now!"

A nearby female can be heard pleading with the officer to check the now-unresponsive man's pulse.

Shortly afterward, an ambulance arrives and takes away the suspect.

Another male can be heard saying, "You just really killed that man, bro."

What are the police saying?

A statement from the department read, "Officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence. Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car."

"After he got out, he physically resisted officers," the statement continued. "Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance."

The statement pointed out that while the man later died, "at no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident."

What else?

The FBI is joining the Minneapolis Police Department in investigating the incident, and the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.

In a Tuesday statement, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told reporters that he is looking into the incident.

"We clearly have policies in place regarding placing someone under control," Arradondo said.

The name of the officer kneeling on the man's neck has not been released at the time of this writing.

(Content warning: Disturbing footage and rough language):

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a former staff writer for TheBlaze, and a former managing editor and producer at TMZ. She resides in Delaware with her family. You can reach her via Twitter at @thesarahdtaylor.