At least 6 arrested during Monday protests in Akron after decision in Jayland Walker case

Akron Beacon Journal
·2 min read
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Akron police said they arrested at least six people during protests Monday following a grand jury's decision not to indict police officers involved in the death of Jayland Walker last year.

Police also issued numerous citations for traffic and equipment violations during the protests, which lasted until after midnight, the department said Tuesday in a news release. Two illegal handguns were found during two traffic stops, resulting in firearms charges, they said.

'It is us that are dying': Jayland Walker case prompts protests in Akron

Starting around 7:40 p.m., police said, a caravan of protesters that grew to about 60 vehicles at its peak began driving around the city, "sometimes blocking traffic and committing a wide range of traffic violations, including driving reverse of traffic."

Demonstrators take to Wilbeth Road on Monday evening to make their frustration known near the site where Jayland Walker was shot and killed by Akron police last summer, as they protest the grand jury's decision not to criminally charge the eight police officers.
Demonstrators take to Wilbeth Road on Monday evening to make their frustration known near the site where Jayland Walker was shot and killed by Akron police last summer, as they protest the grand jury's decision not to criminally charge the eight police officers.

The news release added, "During several traffic stops, agitated subjects approached officers on foot while some yelled obscenities from a distance."

Police received a report of gunshots around 8:40 p.m. in the area of South Main Street and East Wilbeth Road, near a caravan of vehicles that was demonstrating in the area where Walker was killed.

The caravan also traveled through several streets in downtown Akron.

A 30-year-old man was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for tampering with metal barriers on South High Street, police said. He was also cited for open container, possession of marijuana and obstructing official business.

Akron police chief: 'Nothing is jumping out' yet as policy violation in Jayland Walker case

Eight Akron officers fatally shot Jayland Walker 46 times on June 27 after he led officers on a crosstown car chase, during which police say the 25-year-old Black man fired a single shot from his vehicle. Walker was unarmed and running in a ski mask when he was shot after a short foot chase near Wilbeth and South Main. A handgun was found in his vehicle.

Akron’s police union defended the officers’ action as consistent with their training, while Walker’s family decried his death as senseless and said he was not a criminal. Walker’s fiancée had died in a traffic crash weeks earlier.

Summit County’s first-ever special grand jury convened April 10 to hear prosecutors from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office present BCI’s findings.

Akron police also will conduct a separate internal investigation to determine if any department regulations were violated by the officers.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police say at least 6 arrested during Jayland Walker protests