A sheriff’s deputy was captured on camera saving a child’s life when the baby stopped breathing during a protest in California.
Security footage from May 31 shows a mother rushing her baby toward a sheriff’s deputy in Palmdale, California. Deputy Cameron Kinsey is then seen assisting the 11-month-old child.
“Deputy Cameron Kinsey spotted the women coming his way, ran toward them, and met them in the parking lot. An anxious mother handed her son to the deputy, who immediately recognized something was gravely wrong. Deputy Kinsey assessed the child, administered a mouth sweep with his finger and dislodged vomit,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
The woman had been attending a rally across the street.
“None of that other stuff matters,” said Kinsey about the events that were happening around him. “Just the baby.” The child was later taken to the hospital, where doctors found he had swallowed a coin.
Protests have swept across the nation following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd while he was in police custody, with people calling for the end of police brutality and systematic racism.
While many of the protests have been peaceful, some have turned violent, with much of the anger directed toward law enforcement. In New York City, hundreds of officers were reportedly injured by protesters, including one who was struck by a hit-and-run driver, one who was beaten in the Bronx, and one who was “nearly killed” when a brick was thrown at him.
Cries to defund the police have also been heard across the country, with some cities responding with plans to change police budgets.
A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council signed a pledge this month to dismantle the city police department and reallocate funding to other areas of the city’s public safety budget.
“We’re here because we hear you. We are here today because George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police. We are here because here in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States, it is clear that our existing system of policing and public safety is not keeping our communities safe,” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender said. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.”
In Los Angeles, the City Council proposed legislation that would slash the police budget by up to $150 million.
“We need to rethink what it is that makes people safer and makes communities stronger. We cannot just look at the police in isolation,” the motion read. “There is no doubt that communities of color suffer disproportionately from negative interactions with the police.”
An ABC/Ipsos poll released last week showed 64% of those polled oppose defunding the police, and 60% oppose reallocating some funds from the police to social and health programs.
