Photo: Getty Images
An off-duty police officer pinned a 12-year-old Black girl down by her neck using his knee, now the girl is being criminally charged.
Back in March, a video surfaced online showing Kenosha, Wisconsin officer Shawn Guetschow breaking up a fight between two girls at Lincoln Middle School. Guetschow intervened by kneeling on the neck of one of the 7th graders for more than 20 seconds.
The girl's family attorney, Drew DeVinney told CNN that she's now facing disorderly conduct charges in the incident.
"A juvenile delinquency petition has been filed against Jane Doe in Kenosha County," DeVinney told the news outlet. "However, the proceedings and court filings are confidential."
DeVinney said that the girl was offered a "diversion" but that would've required her to "admit to the charge, which was untenable because she is not guilty." The penalty would've been similar to probation, the attorney said.
Interim Kenosha Police Chief Eric Larsen requested the FBI to look into the case back in April.
The Kenosha Police Department noted the similarity of Guetschow's position to that of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who murdered George Floyd by kneeling on the 46-year-old's neck for more than nine minutes.
"Looking at that picture, it destroyed me," Jerrel Perez, the girl's father, told CNN in March. "All it takes it just a little bit, especially for a 12-year-old girl. We've seen a grown man die from that same situation, just imagine a fragile 12-year-old's neck."
Guestchow has since resigned from working security within the Kenosha School District but remains on the Kenosha Police Department.
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