An internal investigation is being launched within the New York City Police Department after a second video reportedly surfaced of another officer using an alleged choke hold on a man during an arrest. Choke holds are banned by the NYPD as a tactic for restraining a suspect.
According to the Associated Press, on July 14, three days before Eric Garner would die in police custody, 22-year-old Ronald Johns was stopped by police at an East Harlem subway station for allegedly walking through an emergency gate and not paying his fare.
Police told AP that Johns was charged with resisting arrest and criminal trespassing. Video footage does appear to show Johns resisting efforts by officers to place handcuffs on him. The footage also shows an officer repeatedly punching and kneeing Johns in his face before wrestling him to the ground and placing him in a choke hold.
A male bystander can be heard yelling, "Stop punching him!"
According to a New York Times report, the NYPD banned choke holds in 1993, but the Civilian Complaint Board still received some 1,022 complaints about choke holds between 2009 and 2013.
Read more at the Associated Press and the New York Times.