Black Lives Matter to Lehigh Valley issues statement on Allentown police use of force incident

(Update: The protest mentioned in this article was previously scheduled for Wednesday but will now take place Monday, July 13.)

A local chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Black Lives Matter to Lehigh Valley, issued a statement on Facebook regarding an incident caught on video Saturday evening. The now-viral video appeared to show three police officers apprehending a man outside of St. Luke’s Hospital in Allentown. One of the officers used a knee-on-neck technique, similar to the one used by Derek Chauvin during the fatal arrest of George Floyd.

All information currently known to the public regarding the incident is available here: http://ncccommuter.org/video-shows-police-officer-using-knee-on-neck-technique-on-man-in-allentown/

A protest will take place Monday in Allentown at 5 p.m., starting at Seventh and Hamilton streets and marching to city hall and the police department.

Activists have created an email template to contact the mayor and city council regarding the officer-involved incident: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16YNXS1KJpueD_8DEXNh_uJ5ERcQCGABsb0v0pcdX238/edit?fbclid=IwAR13vlQhm_dUlJjaOCmvv35PAAA9NGLTi7y57SrfC39H0_3p3zG2znBaUVw

Allentown Chief of Police Glenn Granitz has issued a statement: http://ncccommuter.org/breaking-allentown-police-chief-glenn-granitz-issues-statement-regarding-use-of-force-incident/

Contact the author of this article: ncccommuter@nullgmail.com