COLUMBUS–A Columbus police officer shot dead a black teenager Tuesday afternoon just as a verdict of guilt was being handed down in the murder of Derek Chauvin, a family member said.
The victim of the shooting has not been officially identified, but was named Makiyah Bryant, 15, by a relative in the early hours of Tuesday.
“He was a good boy. He was in love, “said Hazel Bryant, who said the girl was his niece in the Columbus East Side Press.” She was 15. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog on the street. “
Bryant said his niece has been living in a foster home on the east side of Columbus, where the deadly shooting took place. He said several adult women had come to the foster home and started an altercation with the teenager, who called for help from the police and his biological father and grandmother. He grabbed a knife to defend himself, Bryant said.
According to Bryant, who said Makiyah’s grandmother and father had told her the facts, Makiyah was in front of the house defending a physical assault when police arrived, and she had already thrown the knife into the garden. But police shot her four times without warning, she said.
“The police will lie. I’m really grateful that someone in the family was really on stage, “said Bryant. “The police will lie. The police will cover up. They don’t care. Right now, I think they just killed black people. They are not here to protect and serve them. This does not happen. This has happened a long time ago. They are not here to protect and serve them. They are here to kill blacks. ”
Columbus’s office reported that police officers were sent to the scene after a person who called 911 reported an attempted stabbing, saying a woman was trying to stab them.
Bryant disputed information circulating in local media that Makiyah had tried to stab someone and appeared to be a threat, saying Columbus police had published false information to explain the shooting. “I’m overwhelmed,” Hazel said. “It’s horrible.”
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Bryant’s great-grandmother, Ila, compared Makiyah’s death to that of Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead during a raid on her apartment in March 2020.
“I think that’s what the police wanted to do, kill her. I’m just trying to figure out why, “said Ila Bryant. “We have to remember that we have to love each other.”
A woman identified as Tay Jones wrote on Facebook that she had witnessed the shooting and posted a video allegedly from the scene. He said the 15-year-old had a knife “because someone tried to jump her.” According to Jones, the white cop who shot her never told her to drop the knife.
The teen was transported to a nearby hospital, Mount Carmel East, where he succumbed to injuries sustained during the shooting, local station NBC 4 reported. The department has reportedly contacted the Ohio Criminal Investigation Bureau to review use of deadly force. The police department’s public information office did not respond to any requests for comment.
The 911 call that took police to the scene would have cited a stabbing attempt.
A group of about 20 residents soon gathered in the neighborhood at the intersection of Legion Lane and Templar Street, near where police blocked the scene of the incident. The group sang “Black Lives Matter!” and “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!” Three neighbors who said they did not want to speak at the registry said police at The Daily Beast killed a 15-year-old girl.
Video of the scene shortly after filming showed a person lying on the floor in shiny jeans and sneakers while spectators shouted at police.
The murder occurred just as the verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was announced. Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges for the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, unarmed, in May 2020.
Local pigeon Exodus Nation activist KC Taynor told The Daily Beast that the latest police assassination made it impossible to celebrate Chauvin’s verdict.
“It’s another murder,” he said. “They are animals. They treat us like animals. “