Protesters block downtown traffic, denounce Akron police-involved death of Jayland Walker
Protesters blocked the street in front of the Akron Police Department headquarters Thursday and shouted "murderer" any time an officer was seen during a demonstration in reaction to the police-involved shooting of Jayland Walker.
“It’s not fair to just be Black in a world where you gotta be scared that the police gonna kill you,” said Katelin T. of Akron, who asked not to provide her last name. “It’s scary giving birth to Black children because I don’t know what y’all going to do to them.”
About 20 protesters gathered at the mid-morning rally publicized by Serve the People Akron as the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation continued to look into the shooting that occurred early Monday morning in the city's Firestone Park neighborhood following a chase that began in North Hill.
Police say Walker, 25, had fired a gun at officers who tried to pull him over for traffic and equipment violations. Body camera footage of the confrontation has yet to be released.
Akron police shooting: What we know about the death of Jayland Walker
Outside the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center, protesters led chants of "justice for Jayland," "Black Lives Matter" and "How do you spell murderer? APD" as they held signs calling for justice and police accountability and transparency.
"This is absolutely ridiculous," Russel Fennell of Akron said. "They did it because they knew they could get away with it. To me, this is worse than George Floyd."
He added: "Racism is racism. I guess in Akron it's never going away."
Tywan Junius II, who attended the protest with his four-year-old son, criticized the police and called out the individuals watching the protest from inside of the justice center.
"My son is really terrified of the police, like real life terrified," Junius said into the megaphone. "He's terrified of the [expletive] who's supposed to protect and serve you."
As a police officer walked by and waved at the crowd, the protesters yelled back, asking "are you gonna kill all of us?"
"They laughing at us. They laughing cause we Black?" Junius said.
About an hour into Thursday's protest, which began at 10 a.m., participants fanned out across South High Street, blocking the one-way traffic as they chanted "we ain't moving."
Police emerged and asked the protesters to clear the road; officers were met with more shouting, but after about five minutes all demonstrators complied. Soon afterward, the street was closed off to all traffic.
South High Street closed through holiday weekend
South High Street between Mill and State streets will remain closed until Tuesday. Bowery Street, Church Street and University Avenue between Broadway and Main streets will also be closed until Tuesday due to the demonstrations, the city announced.
'Everybody loses': Akron chief says of police shootings; family says 'That's not Jayland."
Akron police Lt. Michael Miller came out and spoke with protesters as the road was cleared.
“We support everyone’s right to peacefully demonstrate, but they can’t occlude the roadway,” Miller said. “We’re not coming out here to silence any concerns. We respect the right to peacefully protest, but not in the roadway creating the obstruction, the hazards and everything else.”
Miller reaffirmed the police department's decision to release all of the body camera footage from the incident at once rather than just the three videos required by law. Miller would not give a date for when the footage would be released, but it is expected to be released by Sunday under a city ordinance setting standards for the release of video following officer-involved shootings.
The department is required by that ordinance to share footage from at least three body cameras within seven days of the incident. The law requires all footage to be released within a month of the incident.
Miller also said that all of the officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave, but he would not state the number of officers involved.
Akron-resident Thaddeus D., who asked not to provide his last name, was not planning on attending the protest but joined after he saw the group gathered.
“This could be me. It could be me they’re protesting for,” he said as he held a Black Lives Matter flag. “Sometimes you gotta do something that don't have nothing to do with you because it could be you or it might be you. You have to be proactive instead of being reactive.”
Some proceedings in the municipal court complex adjacent to the police department were postponed Thursday as a result of the protests.
Though the Summit County Courthouse remained open, some employees were working from home and a few judges were switching proceedings to video rather than in person. One judge postponed an in-person hearing in a murder case that was scheduled for Friday morning.
The crowd thinned out shortly after noon, but protesters intend to keep showing up.
"We keep demanding justice. We keep trying to hold the police department accountable," Destinee Jackson of Canton said. "We're not leaving until justice is served, and we get answers and all these racist cops are out."
Beacon Journal reporter Stephanie Warsmith contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Protesters block traffic, denounce Akron police over chase, shooting
