Ohio protests
Police kill unarmed man with dozens of shots – bodycam video released
Another case of police violence is currently shaking parts of the United States. Hundreds of people protested over the weekend in the city of Akron, Ohio, against the shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker. Again the victim was black. And again, the release of a video has people furious. The police had previously published footage of a chase, the suspect had fled from a traffic stop, initially by car, then on foot. The recording culminates in a hail of bullets that kills Jayland Walker. He is said to have suffered sixty gunshot wounds. “My youngest is also 25 and I can’t imagine what life would be like without him,” said Police Commissioner Stephen Mylett. He offered his condolences to Walker’s family and announced an independent investigation. Officials said a shot had been fired from Walker’s vehicle. Then he left his vehicle masked and later took a position that the police chief described as a “firing position”. A handgun and magazine were later confiscated from Walker’s car. However, he was unarmed when the shots were fired, police said. The Walker family attorney said none of this justified his violent death. The case is the latest in a string of killings of black men by law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Hundreds of people protested the shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker in the city of Akron, Ohio, over the weekend. The police had previously released several bodycam recordings of the incident.
In the US state of Ohio, demonstrators have once again expressed their outrage at the death of an African American in a police operation. Several hundred protesters marched through the city of Akron, Ohio, on Sunday, where 25-year-old Jayland Walker was killed by dozens of police bullets a few days earlier. The crowd marched to City Hall demanding “Justice for Jayland”. It was the fourth straight day of demonstrations against deadly police violence in Akron. As on the previous days, the protest was peaceful during the day. Towards evening, however, tensions increased. During the night, some demonstrators set fire to dumpsters and smashed the windows of snowplows and other heavy vehicles that authorities had brought near the police station as a cordon in anticipation of unrest. Police used tear gas to push the crowd back.
USA: Police publish videos of the operation
The authorities had previously published two videos of the operation against Walker on Sunday. For the first time, the police also provided more detailed information about the incident last Monday. The footage was accompanied by a police comment, which said Walker failed to comply with police orders to stop his car for violating the traffic code and drove away. A shot was fired from Walker’s car during the chase. The African American then continued his flight after several minutes on foot. Officers tried to stop him with tasers, but he kept running. Walker was eventually caught in a parking lot by the cops. However, the images released by a body camera are too blurry to reveal what happened next.
Police chief: body has “more than 60 wounds”
However, shortly after the incident, police said Walker had behaved in a manner that officers perceived as a “deadly threat.” All police officers present then opened fire on the African American. Walker was pronounced dead on the spot. Local Police Chief Steve Mylett said he does not know the exact number of shots fired at Walker. However, according to the medical examiner’s report, his body had “more than 60 wounds”. An independent investigation into the police operation has been launched, Mayor Dan Horrigan said. He was “heartbroken” over the incident. According to Mylett, the eight officers involved in the operation were suspended from duty pending the investigation.
LeBron James responds to incident in Akron
The US civil rights organization NAACP condemned the incident as “blatant murder”. Walker was killed in a possible traffic violation, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said. “That doesn’t happen to whites in America.” Basketball star LeBron James, who comes from Akron, a city of 190,000, said on Twitter on Sunday that he was praying for his hometown. Cases of deadly police violence against African Americans repeatedly spark outrage and protests in the United States. The death of African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation in the city of Minneapolis in 2020 caused a worldwide sensation.