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The man died in the hospital hours after being confronted by the police.
Belgian authorities are investigating the death of a man after images shared on social media appeared to show a police officer kneeling on his back.
Police said a 29-year-old man of Algerian origin was arrested Sunday outside a cafe in Antwerp after he allegedly tried to attack the people.
The man died in the hospital hours later.
Her death drew parallels with the case of George Floyd, who died in May after a police officer knelt on his neck during his arrest in the United States.
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A police spokesperson told AFP news agency that officers were called after the “very agitated” man attempted to attack people, adding that the man had already been injured and appeared intoxicated.
Antwerp police said in a tweet that they would not comment on the case pending a judicial investigation.
The man has been named in the local media as Akram, and hashtags #JusticeForAkram and #MurderInAntwerp have been all the rage in Belgium.
Floyd’s death sparked an outbreak of anger in cities around the world against police brutality and racism.
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Thousands of Belgians took to the streets to join the solidarity protests and more than 80,000 people signed a petition calling for statues of King Leopold II, whose government in the current Democratic Republic of the Congo killed millions of Africans, to be removed from the capital of Brussels.
A statue of the monarch has already been removed in Antwerp after it was attacked during the protests.
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The statue of Leopold III was demolished in Antwerp in June.
