News that a U.S. Marshals Service officer had fatally shot a young black man in Memphis triggered chaotic protests late Wednesday that caused widespread property damage and left at least two dozen police officers injured by thrown concrete rocks.
“Let me be clear — the aggression shown towards our officers and deputies tonight was unwarranted,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland (D).
Other local politicians, though, urged patience and demanded a thorough investigation into the killing. “The community wants answers into tonight’s incident,” said state Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D), who also called for “complete transparency in the investigation of tonight’s officer involved shooting.”
The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Wednesday night in Frayser, a neighborhood less than five miles north of downtown Memphis. The man killed, who was identified by family members and local officials as 20-year-old Brandon Webber, was being served multiple felony warrants by the Marshal Service’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies, according to police.
Webber rammed into the marshals’ car with his own car several times and then displayed a weapon, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Keli McAlister, a spokeswoman for the bureau, said in a news conference early Thursday that it was unclear how many marshals had fired at Webber.
“This remains a very fluid situation,” McAlister told The Washington Post.
The bureau said in a statement that it would not name any officers involved in the shooting, and the U.S. Marshals Service said it would not release names until all investigations were over. The Memphis Police Department said none of its officers were involved.
Demetrick Skinner, a cousin of Webber’s, and Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer each said that Webber was shot as many as 20 times before dying in his family’s front yard, according to the Daily Memphian. Yolanda Holmes, his aunt, told the Daily Memphian that the family was trying to confirm what exactly happened.
This is crazy,” Skinner, his cousin, told the outlet.
Earlier on Wednesday night, a man posted a video to Twitter of him confronting police officers who had formed a barricade in the streets.
“My cousin down there, laying in the street!” the man yelled. “Laying in the yard!”
As night fell and news of the shooting began to spread through Frayser, protests broke out, resulting in a standoff between authorities and hundreds of inflamed residents. On one side, police stood shoulder to shoulder holding riot shields. On the other were angry crowds, shouting at officers. Some protesters hurled bottles, rocks and bricks, police said.
In one instance captured on social media, protesters used a chair to smash out the back window of a police car. Another man appears to spit at officers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...rotests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.40cf17f5cf41
“Let me be clear — the aggression shown towards our officers and deputies tonight was unwarranted,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland (D).
Other local politicians, though, urged patience and demanded a thorough investigation into the killing. “The community wants answers into tonight’s incident,” said state Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D), who also called for “complete transparency in the investigation of tonight’s officer involved shooting.”
The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Wednesday night in Frayser, a neighborhood less than five miles north of downtown Memphis. The man killed, who was identified by family members and local officials as 20-year-old Brandon Webber, was being served multiple felony warrants by the Marshal Service’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies, according to police.
Webber rammed into the marshals’ car with his own car several times and then displayed a weapon, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Keli McAlister, a spokeswoman for the bureau, said in a news conference early Thursday that it was unclear how many marshals had fired at Webber.
“This remains a very fluid situation,” McAlister told The Washington Post.
The bureau said in a statement that it would not name any officers involved in the shooting, and the U.S. Marshals Service said it would not release names until all investigations were over. The Memphis Police Department said none of its officers were involved.
Demetrick Skinner, a cousin of Webber’s, and Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer each said that Webber was shot as many as 20 times before dying in his family’s front yard, according to the Daily Memphian. Yolanda Holmes, his aunt, told the Daily Memphian that the family was trying to confirm what exactly happened.
This is crazy,” Skinner, his cousin, told the outlet.
Earlier on Wednesday night, a man posted a video to Twitter of him confronting police officers who had formed a barricade in the streets.
“My cousin down there, laying in the street!” the man yelled. “Laying in the yard!”
As night fell and news of the shooting began to spread through Frayser, protests broke out, resulting in a standoff between authorities and hundreds of inflamed residents. On one side, police stood shoulder to shoulder holding riot shields. On the other were angry crowds, shouting at officers. Some protesters hurled bottles, rocks and bricks, police said.
In one instance captured on social media, protesters used a chair to smash out the back window of a police car. Another man appears to spit at officers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...rotests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.40cf17f5cf41
