Protesters clash with deputies of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department during protests following the death of Dijon Kizzee on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa)Protests broke out in Los Angeles after police officials fatally shot a black man during a confrontation on Monday afternoon. The Los Angeles law enforcement authorities have claimed that the man was carrying a hand gun at the time of the incident, New York Times reported.
According to the Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, the man was riding a bicycle when they tried to stop him for allegedly violating a vehicle code. The man then dismounted his bicycle and fled, officials said.
When the law enforcement authorities caught up with him, he allegedly punched one of them in the face. The sheriff’s deputies claim that this is when they realised the man was carrying a black semiautomatic handgun, CNN reported. They then opened fire, and shot the man “several times”, Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Dean told reporters. Protests soon broke out at the site of the incident.
Meanwhile, the streets of Kenosha have been overrun by protesters ever since the shooting of African American Jacob Blake, which left him paralysed. On the third night of demonstrations, at least two people were killed and one was injured after a 17-year-old boy named Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire on the protesters.
President Trump is set to meet police officials in Kenosha as part of his presidential campaign trail ahead of polling day in November. ‘Law and order’ is a central part of his campaign, and the president plans on using Kenosha as his stage to get his point across to American voters, BBC reported.
Law enforcement officers guard during a protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. August 25, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
In the US state of Oregon, the governor has called in external law enforcement authorities, after one person was fatally shot in a violent clash between a group of protesters and Trump supporters in Portland on Saturday. The man who died was later identified as a Trump supporter.
Protests in the city have been on for the last 90 days, since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. However, in recent weeks the number of protesters had sharply reduced. The shooting of Jacob Blake led to a renewal of demonstrations in the city, CNN reported.
Here are some top developments from across the United States:
Trump won’t visit family of black man who was shot: White House
President Donald Trump at a news conference on Saturday. (Photo: AP)
During his visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump will not be visiting the family of the African American man who was shot by police in the city, last week. In a recent press briefing, Trump said that he had decided against visiting the man’s family as they wanted to get their lawyers involved, CNN reported.
“Well, I spoke to the (family’s) pastor … and I thought it would be better not to do anything where there were lawyers involved. They wanted me to speak,” the US President said. “They wanted to have lawyers involved and I thought that was inappropriate, so I didn’t do that. But I did speak with the pastor of the family.”
‘Fires are burning, Pres Trump is fanning flames,’ says Biden
Biden said of Trump, “He doesn’t want to shed light, he wants to generate heat, and he’s stoking violence in our cities. He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it.”
The Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Joe Biden accused President Trump of doing little to bring an end to the months of unrest in the United States. He went on to brand Trump’s leadership “a toxic presence in our nation”, AFP reported.
Speaking at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, former US Vice President Joe Biden said, “Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames.”
“The incumbent president is incapable of telling us the truth, incapable of facing the facts and incapable of healing,” he added. During his 22-minute speech, Biden claimed that Trump could not end the violence in the United States, “because for years he has tormented it”.
Jacob Blake’s father ‘refuses to play politics’ ahead of Trump visit
The father of African American man Jacob Blake, who was left paralysed after he was shot by a police official last week, has sad that he will not “play politics” with his son’s life during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Kenosha on Tuesday, BBC reported.
“I’m not getting into politics. It’s all about my son, man. It has nothing to do with a photo op,” Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr, said in an interview with CNN. He added that his son, who is paralysed from the waist-down, is still “holding on for dear life”.
Trump defends Kenosha shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse
US President Donald Trump defended 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was caught on tape opening fire on a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha — killing two and injuring one, New York Times reported.
“He was trying to get away from them, I guess…and he fell,” Trump said at the White House coronavirus update press release on Monday. “And then they very violently attacked him.”
Trump suggested that Rittenhouse merely acted in self-defence. “He was in very big trouble. He probably would’ve been killed, but it’s under investigation,” he said.
Wisconsin governor urges Trump not to visit Kenosha
The White House has decided to go ahead with Trump’s trip to Kenosha despite a letter from Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers, urging the President not to visit the city while it “heals” after the recent shootings.
“I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” Evers wrote in the letter, according to a report by CNN.
“It is our job as elected officials to lead by example and to be a calming presence for the people we know are hurting, mourning, and trying to cope with trauma. Now is not the time for divisiveness,” he added.