*Police shot and killed a Black teenage girl Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio moments before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the death of George Floyd.
In an unprecedented move, Columbus police later released body camera footage of the officer shooting 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant as she appeared to attempt to stab two people with a knife. The officer is shown approaching a driveway where a group of young people were standing. In the video, it appears that Bryant pushes or swings at a person who falls to the ground. As the footage continues, she then appears to swing a knife at a girl who is on the hood of a car, and the officer fires his weapon what sounds like four times, striking the girl. A black-handled blade resembling a kitchen knife or steak knife appeared to be lying on the sidewalk next to her immediately after she fell.
Franklin County Children’s Services confirmed later Tuesday that Bryant was in foster care. Columbus police said that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the case, but the city wanted to release the body camera to give the public more information.
Protesters gathered Tuesday night at the scene on Legion Lane, while others converged at the city’s police headquarters (see video below), a week after officers pepper-sprayed a group that tried to enter the headquarters over the police killing of a Black man who had a gun in a hospital emergency room. Hundreds of protesters pushed past police barriers outside the headquarters and approached officers as city officials were showing the bodycam video inside.
Many chanted, “Say her name!” While others pointed out the victim’s age by yelling, “she was just a kid.”
Watch a news report and protest footage below:
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