Local police and federal officers approached and detained a driver with an Uber decal outside the National Mall, then wrestled him to the ground and pinned him. The driver was held on his stomach for several minutes while pleading in Spanish that he was not a criminal and wanted to be with his family. Officers wore vests identifying some as police and others as Homeland Security and then placed the man in an unmarked vehicle without answering reporters' questions about charges. Dozens of National Guard troops stood nearby observing. The deployment followed recent federal moves to send Guard troops to Washington and assign control of the Metropolitan Police Department.
A man was detained and wrestled to the ground on Wednesday by local police and federal officers who approached his car outside of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Reporters from NBC Washington were at the mall covering a different story when they observed two police officers pulling over a driver with an Uber decal on his car. Aimee Cho, one of the reporters who witnessed the event, said that the officers spoke with the man for several minutes before the confrontation escalated.
In the video, the man seemed to attempt to flee before being taken to the ground and pinned by multiple officers. He was held on his stomach for several minutes while pleading with the officers in Spanish. Please, I'm not a criminal! I work here! I want to be with my family! he screamed in Spanish, per NBC Washington's translation.
The video of the detention which took place in front of the African American History Museum and the Washington Monument also shows dozens of National Guard troops standing in a cluster, watching the arrest. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he would be deploying the National Guard to Washington in an attempt to address crime in the city. National Guard troops from DC itself, as well as five other states, were sent to the Capitol.
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