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Philadelphia has been hit by a second night of protests, following the latest police shooting of a black man in the United States.
The city police department warned on Twitter that “a large crowd” of around 1,000 people was looting businesses and advised people to avoid the area.
* Alert * A large crowd of approximately 1000 people is looting businesses in the Castor and Aramingo area. Avoid the area
– Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) October 28, 2020
In another part of the city, police armed with batons clashed violently with dozens of protesters.
Police say officers opened fire on Walter Wallace, 27, on Monday when he ignored orders to drop a knife he was holding; her family says she was suffering from a mental health crisis.
More than 90 arrests were made during the first night of sporadic rioting and looting in the city, and 30 policemen were injured.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s office announced the deployment of several hundred National Guard soldiers to the city “to protect the right to peacefully assemble and protest while keeping people safe.”
On Monday night, hundreds of protesters took to the streets and riot police pushed them back with shields and batons.
More than 90 arrests were made and 30 police officers were injured, including one whose leg was broken when he was hit by a truck.
Local media reported that two officers shot Wallace on Monday afternoon after he refused to drop the knife while his mother tried to hold him down.
Telephone video of the murder posted on social media showed Wallace pushing his mother and then walking toward police.
“Put the knife down,” shouted one of the officers in the video, who disappeared when the officers opened fire.
Wallace’s father, also named Walter Wallace, said his son appeared to have been shot 10 times, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Why didn’t they use a Taser?” the newspaper quoted him saying. “He has mental problems. Why do you have to shoot him?” she added, saying her son was taking medication.
Police Commissioner Outlaw launched an investigation and said the video “raises a lot of questions.”
“While I was on the scene tonight, I heard and felt the anger of the community,” he said in a statement.
The Wallace shooting comes a week after an officer in Waukean, north of Chicago, Illinois, shot and killed 19-year-old black man Marcellis Stinnette when he opened fire on his vehicle.
His partner of 20 years, Tafara Williams, was also injured.
“When does it end America?” civil rights attorney Ben Crump asked at a press conference yesterday.
“How many more black people have to be killed because of police brutality, excessive force, prejudice, systematic racism, deliberate indifference?”
The United States has witnessed a wave of protests and riots since the police murder of George Floyd in May in Minnesota, when an officer was filmed pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck until he went limp.
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