The Los Angeles County police has shot dead an African American cyclist, Dijon Kizzee, less than two weeks after the police in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot and paralysed another African American, Jacob Blake.
Although, the lawyer representing Kizzee’s family, and the country Sheriff’s Department had different versions of how the incident happened.
According to the lawyer, Ben Crump – the lawyer who also represented the family of George Floyd and is also representing the Blake Family – Kizzee was shot more than 20 times in the back on Monday after he was stopped by two officers for violating a bicycle code.
Giving its account, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said that the victim was shot less than 20 times after he had dropped a handgun that he carried, punching one of the deputies on ground.
Cities in the US have seen a slew of protests over the past few weeks calling for an end to racial injustice against people of color in the United States.
Speaking with reporters, Kizzee’s aunt, Fletcher Fair, said, “You don’t kill any race but us, and it don’t make any sense.”
“Why us?” she asked.
Kizzee had been cycling around the Los Angeles County’s Westmont when he was stopped by two deputies of the sheriff.
He made a run for it, with the deputies following in a hot chase, as stated by a spokesman for the sheriff’s department, Brandon Dean.
Dean said that Kizzee went ahead and punched one of the deputies in the face, dropping a bundle of clothing he had on him, a bundle that contained a semi-automatic handgun, leading to him being shot by the deputies.
The spokesman said that he did not know what code Kizzee had violated or how many times he was shot by the deputies but that he was shot less than 20 times.
Ben Crump, in response to the statement, said, “They say he ran, dropped clothes and handgun. He didn’t pick it up, but cops shot him in the back 20+ times then left him for hours.”
