2nd Richfield officer placed on leave during video hit probe

The Richfield Police Department has placed a second officer on paid administrative leave Tuesday in connection with an incident that showed another officer slapping and pushing a Somali teen in a video posted to Twitter.

The officer shown apparently slapping the teen on the back of the head during a stop was placed on administrative leave earlier this week. Lt. Mike Flaherty said the second officer was placed on leave the next day.

Richfield Police Chief Jay Henthorne also met Tuesday with Omar Jamal, head of the Somali Human Rights Commission, the department said, adding that it takes the complaint seriously.

To avoid a conflict of interest, the Richfield Police Department said it requested that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conduct an independent investigation into the incident. The officers have not been identified.