United States: the moment a police officer shot and killed a 15-year-old African-American girl

The case arose in Columbus, Ohio, minutes before the verdict for George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police was released.

While in Minneapolis the verdict on the George Floyd case was delivered, in Columbus, Ohio, a policeman shot a teenage girl 16-year-old black woman who apparently tried to stab another woman.

The case occurred less than an hour before ex-cop Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd and led to new protests against racism and police violence outside the Ohio Capitol headquarters Tuesday night.

According to city police chief Michael Woods, police received an emergency call Tuesday afternoon from a person who feared being attacked with a knife.

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Police also released part of the camera recording carried by the policeman who killed the teenager, identified as Ma’Khia Bryant, 15 “We thought it was important to share with the community, to be transparent about this incident (…),” said Woods.

In the video, we see how, arriving and exiting the patrol car, the officer encountered a chaotic brawl between several people in the backyard of a house. The policeman drew his pistol and ordered everyone to get to the ground. However the teenager accused another woman with what appears to be a knife.

The policeman then fired several shots at the young girl, who collapsed and remained motionless against a parked car, amid screams from the population. The teenager was taken to hospital in critical condition, where she was declared dead shortly before 5:30 p.m., reports NBC.

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The director of the Columbus Department of Public Safety, Ned Pettus, assured that the teenager’s family “deserves answers”, but that “quick answers cannot come at the expense of precise answers”. He argued that if it is proven that the officer broke the law, It will be treated.

Mayor Andrew Ginther called it a “shocking and horrific situation” and referred to “a tragic day for the city of Columbus”. According to the mayor, the the police “acted to protect another young woman from the community“.

Biden called for reform of police practices

After Chauvin’s conviction, President Joe Biden addressed the nation with Vice President Kamala Harris of the White House and demanded that Congress pass. police practice reforms in the country to “live up to the legacy” of George Floyd.

“It was murder in broad daylight, and took off the world blindfold to see systemic racism “in the country,” Biden said of Floyd’s crime.

“This can be a big step forward in the march towards justice in the United States,” he added and called on citizens to “Unite” against racism and violence.

“Systemic racism is a stain on the soul of our nation,” he added. After the verdict in the Floyd case, Harris, the first black woman and vice president of the United States, said it was “a day of justice in the United States.” Barack Obama, the country’s first black president, said “a jury did the right thing” but “real justice demands a lot more.”