Protests Erupt in Los Angeles After Police Fatally Shoot Black Man
(The AEGIS Alliance) – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – The Los Angeles County sheriff’s department launched an investigation after a deputy fatally shot a black man on Monday afternoon.
Authorities said the man was fighting with deputies and had a handgun in his possession.
Just hours later after the shooting happened, protesters started gathering nearby the scene and demanded answers. There were more than 100 people marching in protest towards an Imperial Highway sheriff’s station where the protests continued.
Some people were saying they thought the shooting was justified while others were chanting, “Say his name” and “No justice, no peace.”
Since the police-involved death of George Floyd near the end of May in Minneapolis, the United States has been facing a reckoning of protests over police brutality and systemic racism. There was also the late August fatal police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin that has fired up recent protests. Blake is still alive and is now paralyzed from the waist down.
Los Angeles deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez gave a statement and said that at 3:16 pm detectives responded to the 1200 blocks of West 109th Place, in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles.
The department’s statement said that “during the contact, a fight ensued between the suspect and deputies”. The man reached for a handgun and “a deputy-involved shooting” happened.
Two deputies from the station in South Los Angeles were driving and then saw a man riding on a bike who was violating vehicle codes. It wasn’t made known which vehicle codes the man was allegedly violating, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Brandon Dean said.
When deputies attempted to stop the man he dropped his bike to the ground and fled, then deputies pursued the man. Deputies then tried to contact the man again and it’s alleged he then punched a deputy on the face. The suspect then threw a bundle of clothes to the ground and deputies noticed a black handgun, the officers both opened fire, Dean said.
The man wasn’t immediately identified and was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said they recovered the handgun and that no deputies had been injured during the incident.
Family members arrived at the scene later and identified the dead man as 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee. There is an ongoing investigation into the incident.
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
