A female police officer is being hailed online after footage emerged of her confronting a male cop who appeared to violently push a woman to the ground in Fort Lauderdale, Florida amid the escalating protests.
The alleged attack is being cited as the catalyst that transformed an otherwise peaceful demonstration into a violent confrontation between police and protesters in the Florida city.
Increasingly violent riots have flared across the United States after 46-year-old African American man George Floyd was allegedly murdered by a white police officer last Monday.
Footage of the Fort Lauderdale incident, shared to ABC affiliate 10 News by a protester standing on the second floor of a parking garage, shows a woman kneeling on the ground with her arms up, surrounded by demonstrators. A male officer attempting to exit the crowd appears to grab the woman's head and push her to the pavement as he strides past. His colleagues can be seen shoving the officer away as he retreats into the parking complex.
"[The protester] says this is what started it all," a 10 News reporter said live on-air before cutting to the video during a news bulletin.
The incident was also filmed by another onlooker in the crowd, who managed to capture the moment the female officer confronted the male cop over the alleged attack.
Although the majority of the exchange is drowned out by the din, the footage - which has been viewed more than 4 million times on Twitter in 24 hours - shows the female officer stalking after the man, waving her arms and gesturing as if she is scolding him.
The footage also shows a closer shot of the male officer pushing the victim brusquely aside, seemingly by her head.
A protester behind the camera can be heard yelling "yes, thank you!" as the female cop appears to berate the policeman for his behaviour.
Following the incident, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and chief of police Rick Maglione confirmed an officer had been taken off duty pending an investigation, according to local media.
As reported by Local10, Maglione acknowledged the incident "needs to be looked into" although the woman wasn't injured.
"If disciplinary action needs to be taken, it will. And it will be swift and corrective in nature.
"I also want to commend the other officers that were there for identifying there was an issue rather quickly and separating the parties. And that's what they should do when they see something that they don't feel is right, or an interaction that they feel is going south," the chief of police said.
The outlet argues that the alleged attack was the catalyst for a confrontation between police and protesters, turning what was a peaceful demonstration into a violent conflict.
Local10 reports that authorities used tear gas to disperse the crowd and damage was done to police vehicles.
State Representative Shevrin Jones later condemned the incident, saying: "After a peaceful march where we honored the life of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor ... needless violence erupted between police and attendees nearly two hours after we ended.
"This is exactly what we were there to speak out against. Initial reports and video footage are both disturbing. I urge everyone to go home and depart in the spirit that the peaceful protest ended in."
The female officer has received praise online for her response to the incident, with one Twitter commentator writing: "This is what society is asking for! For the good cops to speak up and hold the bad apples in the system accountable for their dirty ass actions!"
"You see how he ran from her...you KNOW she don't play that mess," another observed.
On Monday, May 25, 46-year-old Floyd was arrested on suspicion of forgery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Video captured by an onlooker shows Caucasian officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeling on Floyd's neck for roughly eight minutes, despite the man's pleas for air. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after.
On Friday, Chauvin - who has been the subject of numerous conduct complaints throughout his career as an officer - was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He and the three other officers involved in Floyd's arrest have been fired.
Floyd's alleged murder is the latest case to be adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement in protest of deep-seated inequality and ingrained, systemic racism in the US.
On Monday morning (NZ time), results from Floyd's autopsy revealed the man had died by asphyxiation.
