A Kenosha Police Department off-duty officer who was seen on video placing his knee on the neck of a 12-year-old to stop a fight has decided to resign at the Kenosha Unified School District.
The cop decided to resign “effective Tuesday, March 16. As it appears that this incident may lead to litigation, the district will provide no further details at this time,” Tanya Ruder, a spokeswoman for Kenosha Unified School District, told CNN.
According to the school district, the officer was functioning as a security guard at the time in question.
A social media visual did appear to show a brawl between two students as the off-duty cop tried to break it up before being struck or falling down. He appears to hit his head on the side of a table nearby.
Shortly after, he is shown on top of the student, appearing to hold her head against the ground with one hand and put his knee on her neck for an unknown amount of time, as the cell phone video ends briefly after.
The Kenosha Police Department confirmed that he was an off-duty officer and that the 37-year-old had 4 years of experience with the dept. CNN contacted the KPD to inquire about his current employment status but received no response.
The department stated in a statement, “K.P.D. has watched the video clip and has seen the photo which has been widely shared on social media over the weekend. We are keenly aware of the significant sensitivity surrounding the photo. K.P.D., together with K.U.S.D. is investigating the incident in its entirety while being cautious not to make conclusions based off of a small piece of information shared on social media,” part of the statement read.
