Former Saturday Night Live performer Jay Pharoah has claimed that a Los Angeles police officer knelt on his neck after stopping him at gunpoint, in an incident echoing the scene that led to George Floyd's death.
Mr Pharoah, who is black, said in an Instagram post that the LAPD officer stopped him with “guns blazing” before telling him to get on the ground and handcuffing him.
The comedian, 32, alleged that he was only stopped because he fit the picture of “a black man in this area, with grey sweatpants on and a grey shirt”.
He shared footage of the incident in the post, appearing to show him walking down a street before being detained by an armed officer, as more police arrive.
“It wasn’t as long as George Floyd, but I know how that feels,” Mr Pharoah said.
“I said, ‘Why are you doing this? What’s wrong?’ They said, ‘You fit the description of a black man in this area, with grey sweatpants on and a grey shirt.’ I told them, ‘If you Google right now Jay Pharoah, you will see that you made a big mistake’.”
Mr Pharoah starred on Saturday Night Live from 2010-2016 and often played former US president Barack Obama.
George Floyd protesters 'take the knee'
He said he was released when police received a call confirming that he wasn't the suspect.
Mr Pharoah said the incident happened shortly before the killing of black man Ahmaud Arbery by two white men in Georgia.
He ended the Instagram video by saying: “I literally could have been George Floyd. We as a country can’t breathe anymore, and we are tired. We are sick, and we are tired of it. I can’t breathe.”
An LAPD spokesman said: “The person in the Instagram post was detained as a possible suspect of a crime. It was determined to be the wrong suspect and he was let go. The incident is being investigated.”
