“Guetschow did not issue any instructions to Jane Doe,” the lawsuit said. “Guetschow’s use of force constituted an unlawful chokehold.”
The use of a chokehold is prohibited by Kenosha Police Department policy “except where deadly force is allowed and only as a last resort,” according to the complaint. Wisconsin passed a law in 2021 prohibiting police from using chokeholds except as a last resort, joining a host of other states that passed similar statutes in the wake of widespread protests over George Floyd’s death in 2020.
The lawsuit further said the purpose of the chokehold was to restrict the girl’s breathing and that “a reasonable officer in Guetschow’s position would not have believed himself to be in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.”
According to the complaint, Perez’s daughter could not breathe while Guetschow had his knee on her neck. As a result, the girl suffered both mental and physical trauma in addition to her constitutional rights being violated, the complaint adds
