- Title: Protesters block streets after police shooting of black man in California
- Date: 28th September 2016
- Summary: EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY*** VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING CHANTING "NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, NO RACIST POLICE" (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) PROTESTER, SHY, SAYING: "We tried the whole Martin Luther King way, you know, now it's time for us to get the Malcom X way. We've been quiet, we've been silent and we're tired of sitting back and letting you guys kill us just because we're black." CHANTING PROTESTERS MARCHING UNDER FREEWAY BRIDGE PROTESTER SHOUTING: "FUCK ALL Y'ALL, FUCK ALL Y'ALL, FUCK YOU MOTHER FUCKERS"/ LINE OF POLICE OFFICERS MONITORING PROTEST PROTESTERS MARCHING WOMAN IN CAR DOING THE VICTORY SIGN FOR CAMERA/PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER ADDRESSING CROWD THROUGH MEGAPHONE, SAYING: "It ain't just black people, it's everybody. We need to get this shit changed. We need the police to understand that we matter, lives matter. It's not indiscriminate killing, we need the cops to get punished for what they do. We need to make a stand y'all. We need America to see this shit." TWO MEN WATCHING AS PROTESTERS FILE PAST T-SHIRT WITH THE SLOGAN: "WAKE UP STOP THE GENOCIDE" STREET SIGN/PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BLOCKING STREET AT THE SCENE OF THE SHOOTING PROTESTERS GATHERED AROUND CARS THAT HAVE BEEN BLOCKED FROM PASSING/CARS SOUNDING THEIR KLAXONS/MAN WALKS PAST AND KICKS CAR RESTAURANT/PROTESTERS WOMAN HOLDING BANNER READING: "DON'T SHOOT, I'M EPILEPTIC NOT A CRIMINAL" (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTESTER, PAULINE, SAYING: "We're all people and people are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect and not unreasonable fear." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTESTER, ANTHONY JIMENEZ, SAYING: "Nobody has any laws to police our police and that's what we're trying to do, trying to get something heard, somebody to see something, what's going on here. Everybody thinks we're the finest city on the world but nobody realizes what's going on at the back door." POLICE ARMED WITH STICKS STANDING IN FRONT OF PROTESTERS REPORTERS SURROUNDING CAR WITH COUSIN OF SHOOTING VICTIM INSIDE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALFRED OLANGO'S COUSIN, ANTHONY WILLIAMS, SAYING: "He was a cool dude, for real. He was no mean person, the whole picture how they got showing him pointing a gun, I don't believe none of that. That ain't him, I know for sure, but right now I'm just pretty messed up." MORE OF ARMED POLICE ON STREET MORE OF PROTESTERS AND POLICE MORE OF PROTESTERS MARCHING
- Embargoed: 13th October 2016 23:15
- Keywords: El Cajon California police El Cajon Police Department Alfred Olango shooting officer involved shooting
- Location: EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA00151HFCXZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: +++WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY+++
Protesters marched and blocked streets in El Cajon, California, on Wednesday (September 28) as they demanded a federal investigation into the police shooting and killing of an unarmed black man, less than two weeks after similar incidents in two other U.S. cities sparked renewed outrage over police brutality.
Two officers responding to several calls for help in dealing with a mentally unstable person confronted an African-American man in his 30s walking in traffic in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, according to local police.
One policeman opened fire with his service pistol, while the other officer at the same time fired off a Taser stun gun - after the man pulled an unspecified object from his pants pocket and took aim at them in a "shooting stance," according to police. No weapon from the man, however, was recovered from the scene, police said.
Police did not immediately identify the victim, but local activists and friends named him as Ugandan-born Alfred Olango. They said he was mentally ill and that he may have been suffering a seizure in the moments before his death.
"We tried the whole Martin Luther King way, you know, now it's time for us to get the Malcom X way. We've been quiet, we've been silent and we're tired of sitting back and letting you guys kill us just because we're black," said a protester, who gave her name as Shy.
"We're all people and people are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect and not unreasonable fear," added Pauline, another protester.
Days earlier, two black men were killed by police under questionable circumstances in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, igniting demonstrations against racial bias in U.S. policing and demanding greater accountability for law enforcement officers.
The shooting in Charlotte sparked a week of sometimes violent protests, prompting authorities there to impose a state of emergency and curfew.
"Nobody has any laws to police our police and that's what we're trying to do, trying to get something heard, somebody to see something, what's going on here. Everybody thinks we're the finest city on the world but nobody realizes what's going on at the back door," said protester Anthony Jimenez.
El Cajon is a predominantly white city of about 100,000 residents with a significant community of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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