Police Killing of African American Spark Violent Clashes

Date: 14 June 2019 - 21:58

News ID: ۶۶۹۶۲

MEMPHIS (Dispatches) -- At least 24 U.S. police officers have been injured during a large protest in Memphis, Tennessee, following the shooting death of an African American man by law enforcement officers.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the violence erupted on Wednesday night after officers of the US Marshals Service, a federal law enforcement agency within the US Department of Justice, shot and killed Brandon Webber, 20.
Six wounded officers were taken to the hospital, Strickland said on Facebook, adding that at least two journalists were also hurt and "multiple" police cars were vandalized.
The Memphis Police Department estimates there were more than 100 people at the protest Wednesday night, Ursula Madden, public information officer for the City of Memphis said.
The shooting occurred around 7 pm local time in the Frayser community in northern Memphis as officers tried to take a man into custody, law enforcement officials said.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the case, said Webber was "wanted on multiple warrants."
When the officers tried to stop Webber, "he reportedly rammed his vehicle into the officers' vehicles multiple times before exiting with a weapon," the TBI said.
"The officers fired striking and killing the individual," according to the TBI.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer was among the first officials to identify the slain man publicly. She also said the local community has a reason to distrust the police.
Sawyer said Webber was shot 16 to 20 times in his family's front yard, contradicting the police report.
"Don't judge Frayser without asking a community how it feels to mourn their youth over and over again," she said in a tweet.
"Every life lost should matter...every single one. How many times will this be ok? It cannot continue to be,” she added.
The fatal shooting triggered outrage in Frayser, a predominantly black area. As residents gathered in the street near where the shooting occurred, police formed a human wall.
U.S. police officers fatally shoot hundreds of people every year, with a disproportionate number of those being black.
Numerous demonstrations have been held across the U.S. in recent years following white police officers killing unarmed African-American men, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio; Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.