The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

United States: protests after the video of a black man riddled with bullets by the police

2022-07-04T06:16:25.570Z


Jayland Walker, 25, was killed on June 27 while fleeing police on foot after an attempted arrest for a traffic violation. A very violent video released by the police on Sunday shows the young man being riddled with bullets.


Hundreds of people demonstrated on Sunday July 3 in Akron, Ohio (northern United States), after the broadcast of a video showing police shooting a black man who, according to his lawyer, was hit by 60 bullets.

Read alsoWomen and “Black Lives Matter” at the top of the winners of the 59th Venice Biennale

As authorities called for calm, a crowd marched towards City Hall with banners calling for "

Justice for Jayland

".

Jayland Walker, 25, was killed on June 27 while fleeing police on foot after a car chase following an attempted arrest for a traffic violation.

A very violent video released by the police on Sunday shows the young man being riddled with bullets.

Anti-racist associations had called for a fourth day of demonstration on Sunday in this city of 190,000 inhabitants near Cleveland.

These rallies remained peaceful, except for a tense moment when protesters approached a cordon of police and shouted at them.

This death is “murder”

For the president of the American organization for the defense of civil rights NAACP, Derrick Johnson, this death is “

a murder

”.

This black man was killed (...) because of a possible traffic violation.

This does not happen to the white population in the United States

“, he launched.

After the first rally, a crowd remained in the streets to protest as night fell.

No violence had been reported.

Same night extension on Sunday by a hundred demonstrators but which was marked this time by a few overflows, with burnt garbage cans and broken windows on heavy equipment, such as snowploughs, which had been placed around the police station for the protect.

Police in riot gear were deployed and fired tear gas to repel the crowd.

Read alsoUnited States: a heavy liability between the black community and the police

At first stingy with information about the young man's death, the Akron authorities finally unveiled two videos on Sunday.

One is a compilation of videos and screenshots from individual police cameras, along with a commentary.

The second is full footage of the chase and shooting, also from a police camera.

The commentary claims that Walker did not stop his car and drove away, that police began a chase, and that several officers claimed a shot was fired from Walker's vehicle.

After several minutes of chasing, Walker got out of his still moving car and fled on foot.

The police then tried in vain to subdue him with tasers.

60 wounds

Several of them followed him into a parking lot.

The footage is too blurry to clearly see what happened next, but police said in a statement that the 25-year-old behaved in a way that raised fears of a "

mortal threat

".

All the police officers present opened fire, firing numerous bullets.

Walker was pronounced dead at the scene.

Read alsoControversy in the United States after the video of an 8-year-old child taken away by the police

This incident is reminiscent of other deaths of black men during interactions with the police, tragedies that sparked a great movement against racism and police violence.

"

Many will want to voice their grievances in public and I fully support our residents' right to peaceful assembly

," said city mayor Dan Horrigan, saying he

was "heartbroken

."

But I hope people will agree that violence and destruction are not the solution

,” he pleaded at a press conference.

The city councilor also announced the opening of an independent investigation.

"

I've been a lawyer for 22 years and I've never seen anything like what this video shows

," Bobby DiCello, an attorney for the victim's family, told The New York Times.

According to Chief of Police Steve Mylett, a medical examiner's report lists 60 wounds on Jayland Walker's body.

Mr. DiCello assures that the man was hit by 60 bullets.

Read alsoKetanji Brown Jackson, a black woman for the Supreme Court of the United States

The eight police officers implicated in his death have been administratively suspended with pay pending the end of the judicial investigation.

In a tweet on Sunday, basketball superstar LeBron James, from Akron, said he prayed for his city.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-07-04

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-14T02:22:31.268Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.