VIDEO: Illinois Cop, Protesters Have a Dance Off

An Elgin, Illinois, police officer had a dance-off with some protesters peacefully demonstrating against George Floyd’s death Friday night.

Officer Hector Gutierrez, 36, was watching a Facebook Live video of the demonstration at City Hall. Once he heard the music playing, he decided to join in and dance, the Daily Herald reported.

Elgin #Protest threw it down!
Protestor & police take turns dancing! #PeacefulProtesthttps://t.co/JHtACuoy4P

— JazmineSpirit (@JazmineSpirit) June 6, 2020

“To be honest with you, I was more worried about not getting hurt,” Gutierrez said. “My knees were killing me, my back. But you know what? The adrenaline rush, I was feeling the vibe of the people, the community.”

Several videos of Gutierrez have gone viral, including this one video on Twitter of the officer engaging protesters in a peaceful dance-off.

The videos show both Gutierrez and Cmdr. Eric Echevarria in a circle with protesters watching a younger man dance. The dancer walked up to the officers and used his foot to mimic drawing a line in front of them, as if daring them to cross it.

Gutierrez then handed his equipment to Echevarria, while keeping his mask on, as the crowd cheered. He then held up a finger and said, “One city,” and went into the circle and began breakdancing.

Gutierrez, who said he used to dance while he was a high school student, expected to get made fun of by his fellow officers for pulling the move. Instead, he received praise, and requests from other officers to teach them how to dance.

“They loved it. They said that it was a good job and perfect timing as well,” Gutierrez said.