Activists plan to demand more accountability from DC police on police shootings on minorities. #WTOP pic.twitter.com/fGWi66HgM8
— Dennis J. Foley (@DJFoleyWTOP) July 21, 2016
Activists in support of Black Lives Matter protest at the corner of 14th St NW and I St NW. #WTOP pic.twitter.com/dl4WiDOck7
— Dennis J. Foley (@DJFoleyWTOP) July 21, 2016
WASHINGTON — Racial justice activists held a protest near McPherson Square Thursday to shed light on last month’s police-involved shooting death of a black man in Northeast D.C.
Showing Up for Racial Justice, the group that organized the protest in front of the D.C. Office of Police Complaints, describes itself as “a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice.”
Along with the demonstration — which included chants of “black lives matter” and lasted roughly 45 minutes — activists also filed an official complaint at the office.
In a statement, the organization says the June 27 shooting death of Sherman Evans, 63, in Northeast D.C. was an example of “the ongoing and sustained violence against black communities.”
After the shooting, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser authorized the release of body-worn camera footage that shows officers repeatedly telling Evans to put down the weapon he had pointed at them before he was shot. It was later revealed that the weapon he was holding was a BB gun.
Protesters say there is a lack of accountability within D.C. government to prevent tragedies like these.
This protest comes a day after another one led by a different group outside the headquarters of the Fraternal Order of Police near Judiciary Square that lasted most of Wednesday.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told WJLA earlier in the week that her department does a sufficient job with weeding out bad cops and that the newest crop of recruits have high standards to weed out fellow officers they feel are not doing their jobs professionally enough.
Watch footage from the protest:
