Lawsuit: Deputy pinned black boy with knee to neck in 2019 Oregon incident

PORTLAND, Ore. — The mother of a 12-year-old African American boy has filed a $300,000 lawsuit saying three Clackamas County Sheriff’s deputies pinned him down to the ground — one by pressing a knee on his neck.

The incident happened in August 2019, over nine months before the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked widespread national outrage.

Lawyers for the boy say he committed no crimes and was merely a witness to a fight between two girls he didn’t know at Clackamas Town Center.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.