The Kern County Sheriff's Office issued a statement on Wednesday regarding it's involvement in policing the protests taking place around Kern County, stating that they would only assist if asked.
"KCSO will only step in to help BPD if we receive a request for mutual aid assistance from them. We have units available to help them and other police departments throughout the county upon request. We were asked last week for mutual aid assistance for agencies in the Los Angeles area and the San Francisco area, but we initially had to decline those requests while we evaluated staffing for events which were expected to occurred in Kern County," read the statement.
Protests are going on throughout the area and the country in response to the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died on Memorial Day after then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held a knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, likely causing his death. Chauvin has been charged with homicide, and three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting a homicide.
On Wednesday, an autopsy released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner showed that Floyd officially died from a heart attack. The autopsy report also indicated he was positive for the coronavirus based on a postmortem nasal swab collected after his death.
