BLM Protests Break Out After Columbus Police Shoot Teen Who Was Attempting to Stab a Girl
Black Lives Matter protests erupted Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio, after a police officer fatally shot a teenager who was trying to stab another girl.
The shooting took place about 4:35 p.m. Tuesday. Officials shortly after released bodycam footage that showed a chaotic struggle in progress as the officer responded to reports of an attempted stabbing, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The footage shows the girl who was shot struggling with another girl, who is wearing pink. The assailant, later identified as Ma’Khia Bryant, appears to be in the act of stabbing the girl in pink when the officer shoots her.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic violence that some viewers will find offensive.
The video appears to record four shots.
Bryant was transported to a hospital where she later died.
A woman identified as Hazel Bryant, who said she was the shooting victim’s aunt, told The Columbus Dispatch that her niece had a knife, but dropped it before being shot, an action that does not appear on the bodycam video.
Body camera video released by Columbus Police in Ohio shows #MakiyahBryant attacking another female with a knife before she is shot by police. #BLM have been protesting, calling the shooting racist because Makiyah is black. pic.twitter.com/LY1HaJyI1F
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 21, 2021
According to the Dispatch, protesters carrying Black Lives Matter signs who gathered Tuesday evening about a half block from the shooting scene noted that the incident came just as the guilty verdicts were being announced in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges in the death of George Floyd in May.
[firefly_poll]
“We don’t get to celebrate nothing,” protest leader K.C. Taynor said through a megaphone, according to the Dispatch. “In the end, you know what? You can’t be black.”
Kiara Yakita, founder of the Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio, told the newspaper she wasn’t surprised at another police shooting.
“Why did they kill this baby?” she said.
Demonstrators pushing past police lines and police cars retreating. No use of force. pic.twitter.com/XbNxaArjAu
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) April 21, 2021
Demonstrators stopped on Marconi Boulevard and Long Street in front of CPD headquarters. pic.twitter.com/zVhmrjelyY
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) April 21, 2021
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther called Tuesday “a tragic day in the city of Columbus. It’s a horrible, heartbreaking situation.”
He said the city believed it was necessary to show “transparency in sharing this footage, as incomplete as it is at this time.”
Franklin County Children’s Services said Ma’Khia Bryant was in foster care at the time of her death, according to the Dispatch.
Police arrived in response to a 911 call reporting an attempted stabbing.
In announcing the shooting to the city council during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night, according to the Dispatch, Council President Shannon Hardin said, “there is a truth that for so many in our community there is no relief. This is not all right, it’s not OK, and it can’t continue on.”
“We’re going to need to have the utmost transparency as we go through and learn more. But the truth is that nothing that we will do will bring this young baby girl back. Nothing will stop the family from grieving,” he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
