“I always wanted to be in a bar fight,” said a US police official after pinning a Black man down on the ground and kneeling on his neck. The man later died at a hospital.

Ohio Police have come under intense scrutiny following the release of body camera footage showing officers pinning a Black man to the ground in a bar, reminiscent of the events that led to George Floyd’s death in 2020.

The video, released by the Canton Police Department, captured the moments leading up to the death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old man suspected of leaving the scene of a single-car accident on April 18.

Canton, Ohio

Bodycam footage of Frank Tyson pic.twitter.com/RvpE4Meuib

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In the footage, officers are seen confronting Tyson inside a bar, where an altercation quickly ensues. Despite Tyson’s pleas for help and his repeated cries of “I can’t breathe,” officers wrestle him to the ground and handcuff him, with one officer applying pressure to his back near his neck while saying, “You’re fine.” 

Tyson continues to plead for relief while lying on the floor. After several minutes, officers notice his lack of responsiveness and proceed to administer CPR. Paramedics arrive on the scene and transport Tyson to a local hospital, where he later dies.

In the body cam footage, one police officer can be heard bragging about how he always wanted to be in a “bar fight” with one of the patrons of the establishment. 

The circumstances surrounding Tyson’s death draw chilling parallels to George Floyd’s fatal encounter with Minneapolis Police in 2020 which sparked global outrage. 

The officers involved in Tyson’s case, identified as Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch, have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. 

Manipur police said that the personnel killed in the attack were from CRPF’s 128 Battalion deployed in Naransena area.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita – who entered the political battleground with fiery speeches at INDIA bloc’s rallies last month – will now lead the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and other states.

Sunita Kejriwal will hold a mega roadshow in the national capital today in support of AAP’s East Delhi candidate Kuldeep Kumar. “In protest against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, his wife Sunita Kejriwal will campaign to seek blessings for him and to seek votes for AAP candidates. She will seek blessings for him from the people of Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana,” Delhi Minister Atishi said.

Ms Kejriwal is gradually assuming a bigger role in the party to give a boost to the AAP’s campaigning, which has been affected by the Chief Minister’s arrest in March, party sources said.

AAP Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Ms Kejriwal is the best person to keep the party together in the prevailing circumstances and asserted that her presence has had a “positive effect” on the party workers.

Ms Kejriwal last month took part in the INDIA bloc’s mega rallies in Delhi and Ranchi, which saw the opposition camp launch a fierce attack on the BJP for allegedly misusing central agencies to harass opposition-ruled states.

She has so far held three digital media briefings mainly focused on communicating Arvind Kejriwal’s messages to the people. 

Mr Kejriwal was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the liquor policy scam. He remains the Chief Minister even after his arrest with the AAP asserting no law stops him from running the government from jail.

Sunita Kejriwal is a former Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer who served in the income tax department for 22 years. She met Arvind Kejriwal during a training programme in Bhopal. She is from the 1994 batch, while Arvind Kejriwal is a 1995-batch officer.

She took voluntary retirement in 2016. Her last posting was at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in Delhi where she served as the income tax commissioner.