George Floyd protests: Texas cop comforts young black girl who thought he was ‘gonna shoot’ her

A young African-American girl thought she was going to be killed by a Texas cop at a protest, but his reaction has gone viral.

Heartwarming footage has emerged showing a US police officer comforting a five-year-old African-American girl at a protest.

The girl was crying and had asked if he was “gonna shoot” her, but the Texan cop knelt on the ground and assured the girl that she was safe.

Since the protests began 12 days ago, many cases of police brutality have come to light. Protesters have been shot with rubber bullets, with one person losing an eye.

Just this morning two New York officers were charged for pushing an elderly protester onto the ground cracking his head open and sending him into the ICU ward.

The cop assures the young girl that she is safe.

Simone Bartee in a YouTube video her father posted to Twitter.

According to the her dad, the young girl, Simone Bartee, caught the attention of one of the police officers at a Houston protest two days ago when she started crying.

She was clearly worried as she asked the officer: “Are you gonna shoot us?’

The officer then crouched down next to Simone and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“We’re here to protect you, OK?” the officer could be heard saying in the clip.

“We’re not here to hurt you at all. You can protest, you can party, you can do whatever you want – just don’t break nothing.”

Simone could be seen nodding as she took in the officer’s words.

RELATED: White house surrounded by ‘huge’ protest crowd

RELATED: What went wrong at Sydney protest

During the protest in Houston yesterday one of the police officers noticed my daughter crying. She asked him “Are you gonna shoot us” he got down on one knee wrapped his arm around her and responded: pic.twitter.com/gQWF7HMf3l

— SimeonB 🦉 (@iamsimeonb) June 3, 2020

It’s unclear whether Simone feared getting shot with a real bullet or a rubber one, given the situation, though she may have feared both.

The video garnered mixed responses online.

Some condemned the parents for bringing someone so young to a protest.

One Twitter user posted a powerful picture from four days ago showing a child on the shoulders of her dad, with police pointing guns in their direction.

A protester with a child on his shoulders comes close to cops with rubber bullet guns. Picture: Richard Grant

“I hate that she was there because this is traumatic,” the user commented, along with the picture.

Others criticised the police officer for the wording he used.

The absolute AUDACITY to still sneak a damn threat in there towards a child. "Just don't break nothing", telling her that she is in fact not 100% safe and that something, even a mistake, will get her shot.

— Firlow ✿🏳️‍🌈 (@Firlows) June 4, 2020

It’s not the only kind incident by law enforcement that has shocked protesters.

Earlier this week, news.com.au reported on a sheriff who took off his riot gear and helmet and peacefully joined protesters in Michigan.

Just a day later, a NYPD police chief knelt with protesters to express his solidarity with them.