The Philadelphia Police Commissioner has opened an investigation into the shooting. (Representative)
New York:
Officials in the U.S. city of Philadelphia announced a curfew on Wednesday after two nights of unrest following the latest police murder of a black man.
The citywide order will last from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. GMT Thursday), according to a statement on the city government’s website.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Philadelphia, with looting and violence, after police shot dead Walter Wallace, 27, who carried a knife on Monday.
His family said he suffered from mental health issues and asked why officers didn’t taser him instead.
Wallace’s death and the protests that followed also reignited a political clash between Republicans and Democrats less than a week before the election.
“It’s a terrible thing, what I’m witnessing is terrible and quite frankly that the mayor or whoever allows people to riot and loot and not arrest them is also a terrible thing,” President Donald Trump told the journalists.
The United States has seen 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 to handcuff Floyd’s neck to so that it becomes soft.
Numerous protests have accused police of racism and brutality, but Trump has focused on the unrest to bolster his claims to be the “public order” candidate in his election battle against Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, the Democratic challenger and his running mate Kamala Harris said in a statement their “heart was broken” for Wallace’s family.
But they also called on the protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
“No anger at the very real injustices in our society excuses violence,” they said.
“The looting is not a protest, it is a crime. It distracts from the real tragedy of a life cut short,” added Biden and Harris.
Two police officers shot Wallace around 4:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. GMT) Monday afternoon after he refused to drop the knife as his mother tried to restrain him.
A phone video of the murder posted on social media shows Wallace pushing his mother away and then heading to the police.
“Put down the knife,” one of the officers shouted in the video, who walked away as police opened fire.
On Tuesday, the office of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the deployment of several hundred National Guard troops to the city “to protect the right to peaceful assembly and protest while ensuring the safety of people.”
The Philadelphia Police Commissioner has opened an investigation into the shooting.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
