White Florida officer acquitted of shoving of Black woman

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida jury has sided with a white Florida police officer accused of shoving a kneeling Black woman to the ground during a protest more than two years ago. The Sun Sentinel reports that Broward County jurors acquitted Fort Lauderdale officer Steven Pohorence of a battery charge on Monday. Prosecutors say Pohorence shoved a then-19-year-old kneeling protester during one of the demonstrations that occurred through the U.S. following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A defense lawyer says the woman’s raised arms were at the level of the officer’s gun, and video evidence was unclear whether the officer and the woman ever actually made contract.