Ma’Khia Bryant was shot dead on Tuesday afternoon
A cop has shouted “blue lives matter” at the same location that a 16-year-old was shot dead by police on Tuesday afternoon.
Police had been called to the scene in Columbus, Ohio yesterday after a 911 call reporting a teen with a knife. Bryant was shot after appearing to lunge at another individual with a knife and failing to comply with the orders of police officers. This is according to the body cam footage from the officers who arrived at the scene in Columbus.
The policeman who fired the shots has not been identified and has been taken off the streets pending an investigation into the incident, Reuters reports.
A cop has now attracted criticism after appearing to yell “blue lives matter” at bystanders at the cordoned-off crime scene.
Bystander video shows the aftermath of the killing of 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant by Columbus police, minutes before Derek Chauvin was found guilty
Apparently *she called the cops for help*—but they killed her, then taunted neighbors & family members by saying "Blue Lives Matter" pic.twitter.com/MEPkuoVn6A
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) April 21, 2021
Many of the details around Bryant’s shooting are still unclear. Some reports say that Bryant was the one who phoned the police for help, whilst the bodycam footage appears to show the 16-year-old lunging towards another girl with a knife.
This incident happened a very sensitive time, with the shooting occurring just an hour before Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. At the moment, it is important that people do not jump to conclusions around anything in this case.
However, actions like this do nothing to help anyone. A cop saying “blue lives matter” at the scene of a Black person’s death, no matter the cause or reason, is stupid and insensitive. It does nothing to help the police force, and creates more outrage and fury around an already very sensitive and volatile situation and mood in the US.
It is easy to understand why some members of the police force may have felt vilified by the events of the past year. It is even easier to understand why large swathes of Black and ethnic minority people feel angry at the police force because of the events of the past year and beyond.
