Israeli Policeman Stepping On Neck Of Charedi During Arrest To Investigation And Civil Suit

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The disturbing pictures of George Floyd’s arrest and subsequent murder reminded a young Chareidi Jerusalem resident of his traumatic arrest at the hands of Israeli policemen just half a year ago. Now he has decided to pursue damages from the police officer involved as well as demanding an internal investigation of the policeman’s conduct.

Aharon, a 24-year Chareidi resident of Jerusalem was riding an electric bicycle in the center of town without wearing a helmet as required by law. A policeman stopped him and arrested him in brutal fashion as described by his lawyer, Daniel Sarid, to Kikar Hashabat:

“My client is an innocent boy with no past criminal record. He did not commit a crime, did not provoke and definitely did not represent a danger to policemen and therefore it is unclear why police acted so violently towards him. Was it not possible to detain him for investigation in any other, less dangerous and violent way? There were a number of policemen present who had the power to overcome my client without harming him physically and in particular emotionally.”

“This was a harsh and superfluous arrest which left my client with significant emotional disabilities. The conduct of the police in this case could have led to a far worse conclusion. Witness the arrest in the US which led to the gratuitous death of George Floyd. My client lay on the ground for an extended period of time and the policeman’s knee was on his head and neck which led to a feeling of strangulation and a fierce pain.”

In conclusion Sarid said that “we will appeal to Internal Investigations as well as submitting a civil suit against Israeli Police. The police must due their job in suppressing crime and securing the public but at the same time it must act in a proper and humane way and use common sense to act in a legal and correct manner.”

Israel Police responded to Kikar Hashabat, stating that “we are witness here to a partial, biased and pejorative documentation, which presents a skewed picture of enforcement actions from over half a year ago without presenting the events prior to the arrest

“During enforcement activities against electric bicyclists without helmets, a policeman noticed a person riding without a helmet and asked him to identify himself a number of times. Unfortunately he decided to ignore him totally, continued in his refusal and attacked the policeman in an attempt to stop the enforcement. At this point the policeman was forced to arrest him and when he resisted he overcame him with other police summoned to the scene. After he was arrested, the accused apologized for his behavior, was interrogated and the case against him is still being conducted.”