By AFRO Staff
Black Lives Matter D.C. demanded justice in the fatal shooting of An’Twan Gilmore.
Gilmore, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot by Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police (MPD) early on Aug. 25. He died in an area hospital.
Police allegedly approached Gilmore while he was sleeping in his BMW, before firing ten shots at him.
MPD has released three of its officer’s body camera videos showing Gilmore surrounded by at least six armed officers, with one armed with what seems to be an assault rifle.
Gilmore does not appear in any of the released body camera footage. Footage from the perspective of Mr. Gimore’s killer was released. However, a ballistic shield obscures every frame of the footage, rendering it useless as evidence of anything incriminating or exculpatory, save evidence that the officer behind the ballistic shield shot and killed Gilmore.
“Cops are not drafted, or heroic ‘chosen guardians’’ of the people,” BLM said in a statement addressed to Mayor Muriel Bowser. “They apply, train, go to work and get a paycheck from the residents of the District. If the job is too difficult, they can just quit. Instead, we’re left with a city full of cops that kill us in our sleep, kill us while riding on our roadways and kill us while in the home of a loved one. That’s why we’ve demanded the D.C. Council divest from D.C. Police and invest in Black and Brown communities.”
At the moment, BLM is calling on D.C. residents and neighbors to sign their petition demanding the District release all body camera recordings, fully implement the D.C. Police Reform Commission in the form of law and “to demand immediate action and accountability for police violence and murder in our communities from D.C. leaders.”
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The post BLM petitions D.C., demands justice for An’Twan Gilmore appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers .
