A knife-wielding assault suspect invoked George Floyd while being put into custody after an officer shot her in a Los Angeles neighborhood Nov. 29, a video released Friday showed.
Domenica Briones, 28, was caught both on police and witness cameras lunging with a knife at a male, who was blocking her assault with a drawer-like object as a shield, the video showed. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers responding to the incident at 11:10 pm repeatedly ordered her to drop the knife. Briones, however, continued to lunge at the male, the video showed.
An officer, later identified as Hugo Alfaro, shot Briones twice and reissued the command for her to drop the knife, per the video.
“B—, you really f—ing shot me?” Briones replied in a subdued voice.
“Drop the knife!”
“It’s in my pocket,” Briones replied, her feet unsteady apparently because of the gunshot injury.
“Get on the ground now!” Officer Alfaro said.
“I’m too drunk!”
“Get on the ground now,” Officer Alfaro said.
“F— it,” Briones replied, squatting.
“Put your hands up!”
“It hurts…my…my…it hurts… Are you gonna let that fool skate on me?” Briones asked.
Briones eventually complied, lying on her stomach on the street, letting out a stream of profanities, and daring Officer Alfaro to “shoot another one, p—.”
“Why don’t you let him [arrest me]? Let him do it. He’s a hero, he’s a hero,” Briones continued, in apparent mockery, and then laughed and said, “‘I wish you would George Floyd me, bitch. I wish you would George Floyd me, bitch. I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” (RELATED: ‘George Floyd Square’ Businesses Sue City For Lack Of Policing)
Paramedics took Briones to a hospital after her arrest, where she was admitted for her injury. Officers recovered Briones’ three-inch-blade knife and booked her in absentia Nov. 30 for assault with a deadly weapon, LAPD Captain Kelly Muñiz said, per the video. Briones was discharged from the hospital Dec. 4, approved for booking, and charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon, Muñiz added.
The LAPD will continue investigating the incident, Muñiz said.