In Chicago yesterday evening an unidentified and possibly armed man was fatally shot by the police. Citizens of the city do not believe the man was armed and have taken to the streets to hold police to account and to mourn the man's death. Four of the protesters have been arrested.
According to Chicago police chief Fred Waller, the two officers involved in the shooting were on foot patrol and saw a man who "they thought might have been armed from the bulge around his waistband." The officers then approached the man who, according to Waller, "became combative" and "appeared to be reaching for a weapon" whereupon he was shot by the police. Waller added that "he did have a weapon on him." Some witnesses dispute the account, one of whom describes a police officer who "jumped out of her car and had a gun," stopping the man as he was crossing the street.
The protests began soon after the shooting. One of the protesters also disputed Waller's account, saying that "whoever shot this man was dead wrong" and that "they shot an unarmed black man again." The protests, which began peacefully, eventually became more violent, with video footage of police beating protestors with batons and also pushing the videographer to the ground. The police have claimed that the violence was in response to protestors throwing bottles and rocks, although as of yet there is no video footage to back this up.
The officers involved have been reassigned to administrative duties for thirty days while the case is investigated.
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