Joe Biden was briefed Wednesday on the “tragic” fatal police shooting at a 16-year-old black girl in Columbus, Ohio, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced.
A police officer shot teenager Ma’Khia Bryant Tuesday afternoon, minutes before the jury announced his conviction in Minneapolis over police murder of George Floyd, one of the most notorious such criminal cases in history.
Psaki acknowledges the shadow of Ma’Khia’s death, “just as America was hopeful of a step forward”.
“She was a child. We think of her friends and family in the communities who are hurting and grieving her loss, ”said Psaki.
Protesters marched on Tuesday night to contest the murder.
In violation of the protocol, Columbus police officers released footage of the incident Tuesday night, shortly after it happened.
The clip shows the scene in the street where the police were sent, after someone called 911 and claimed that they had been attacked.
Ma’Khia, who was apparently holding a knife, collided with two people before the officer shot at her four times and she fell to the ground next to a parked vehicle.
City officials initially said police officers intervened to save the life of another girl who apparently quickly closed Bryant while swinging a kitchen knife.
Mayor Andrew Ginther on Wednesday denied the death of a teenager, but said: “We know that the officer acted on the basis of this footage to protect another young girl in our community.”
State authorities are now investigating. City management director Ned Pettus has sentenced the death to a police officer.
He said: ‘She can be my grandchild. Either way, it’s a tragedy. I understand the outrage and emotion surrounding this incident. ”
He said the video recordings show “there is more to this”.
Hana Abdur-Rahim, of the Black Abolitionists Collective, described the continued killing of Black American by the police as genocide.
She said, “We are fighting for our lives.”
The shooting took place before daylight at several bystanders.
“She’s a fucking kid, man!” calls a witness to the police.
Ma’Khia was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The officer who killed her has not been identified. Officials said the officer was removed from the patrol service.
‘I’m very upset, I’m hurt. I want answers, ”said Paula Bryant, Ma’Khia’s mother.
Ma’Khia was shot less than five miles from where the funeral for Andre Hill, who was killed by another police officer in Columbus in December, was held earlier this year.
The officer in Hill’s case, Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, is now being executed for murder, with the next trial scheduled for April 28.
The province where Bryant was shot dead has one of the deadliest police shootings in the US, according to a recent study.
The Ohio Alliance for Population Health Innovation released a study in February this year that found 38 people were shot dead by police in Franklin County, home to about 1.3 million people, between January 1 2015 and 31 December 2020.
According to the Alliance, an average of 4.81 per million people were killed in the province, the 18th highest number of deadly police shootings among America’s 100 most populous provinces.
As protesters gathered near the scene where Bryant was killed Tuesday, Rayshawn Whiting, who was among them, said he intended to visit his brother’s home and witness Chauvin’s verdict before shots rang out.
“I have daughters,” Whiting said. “And I’m tired of it. I feel like a polar bear with the icebergs melting. We have nowhere to run. If we protect ourselves, we’ll go to jail. If we do not do this, we will die. ”
Interim police chief Michael Woods said state law allows police to use lethal force to protect themselves or others, and investigators will determine if this shooting was such a case.