Covid 19 coronavirus: Victoria Police officer grabs woman by throat for not wearing face mask

The woman was not wearing a face mask. Photo / Supplied

A Victoria Police officer has been filmed grabbing a young woman by the throat and forcing her to the ground as she struggles and screams, "He's choking me!"

The distressing footage of the woman being arrested – apparently for not wearing a face mask – was uploaded to Twitter on Tuesday.

It begins mid-confrontation, as the grey-haired male officer pulls the woman along the street with one hand around her neck.

How is this OK Victorians? pic.twitter.com/p6MiuFg0CC

— val glass (@AussieVal10) August 10, 2020

"He's choking me!" she yells. "He's choking me! What the f***! Get off of me! Get off!"

A female officer tells the woman, "Let go of his vest. Let go of his vest."

The woman continues to yell as the officer pushes her up against the wall.

"He's f***ing choking me!" she yells. "He's choking me. What the f***! Get the f*** off me!"

The female officer puts a hand on the woman's arm and says again, "Let go of his vest! Stop!"

The woman kicks at the female officer and yells, "F*** you!"

She continues to struggle with the male officer. "Stop resisting," he says.

The female officer says, "You just kicked me in the –"

"Get the f**** off me!" she yells. "What are you doing? You're f***ing choking me. You're f***ing choking me, dude, what the f***!"

She screams 'you're choking me!' and kicks at officers. Photo / Supplied

The male officer then pulls her to the ground.

"You're f***ed in the head!" she yells.

The officer rolls her over onto her stomach and sits on her back as she continues to protest.

"You're f***ed! What the f*** are you doing to me?" she says.

The female officer tells her to put her hands behind her back.

"What have I done?" the woman asks. "What have I done wrong?"

The female officer says, "You just kicked me in the stomach!"

At this point the man filming chimes in.

"Yeah but you're choking her," he says. "There's a man on a girl and you choked her."

He yells, "For what? For a mask? For not having a mask? Look how pathetic you are! Are you serious? Just for not having a mask?"

The video then cuts out.

A longer video of the incident filmed from a nearby balcony was uploaded to YouTube.

It shows the man filming the original video continuing to berate the officer as he sits on the woman.

"You grabbed her! You didn't ask her any questions, you d***head, you just grabbed her!" he says.

The woman on the ground yells, "Let me stand up, I'm a f***ing human being!"

As more officers arrive, the person filming from the balcony jokingly calls them the "backup crew".

"All because she wasn't wearing a mask!" the woman filming laughs in disbelief.

Victoria Police have been contacted for comment.

Face masks have been mandatory in Melbourne since Thursday, July 23, and in regional Victoria since the start of this month.

Police can issue on-the-spot fines of $200 to those not wearing a face covering without a legitimate reason.

Earlier this week, a Melbourne mum was filmed being pinned to the ground by officers for allegedly breaking lockdown rules.