Black cyclist shot dead by cops in Los Angeles

meIn the United States, another black man was shot and killed during a police operation, this time in Los Angeles. This is Dijon Kizzee, 29, who was riding a bicycle on Monday when two police officers tried to arrest him for an unspecified violation of cycling regulations.

According to the police, Kizzee first escaped and then struck one of the officers who were pursuing him in the face. It is said that he dropped a clothing package containing a semi-automatic weapon. Then the police opened fire. The lawyer for Kizzee’s family said Kizzee did not pick up the gun. “But the police shot him in the back more than 20 times and left him for hours.” A police spokesman said fewer than 20 shots were fired. An autopsy should be done later in the day.

Incident triggers protests

The police spokesman could not say which cycling regulation Kizzee should have violated. He also did not give details about the two policemen involved. The family’s attorney, who is prominent civil rights activist Benjamin Crump, asked on Twitter to send him videos of the incident, if available.

The latest case in a series of police operations in which a black man was killed caused protesters in Los Angeles to take to the streets that night. More than 100 people gathered in front of the sheriff’s office near the crime scene, some shouting “There is no justice, there is no peace,” as the Los Angeles Times reported. A commemorative march is planned for Tuesday.

Since May, when the African American George Floyd was killed in a police operation in Minneapolis, there have been regular protests against racism and police violence in numerous American cities, as well as riots.