Protesters carry injured counter protester to safety during Black Lives Matter demonstration in London
From CNN’s Zahid Mahmood
Scenes in London became chaotic Saturday as a group of men carried an injured man away after he was allegedly attacked by some of the crowd of protesters while police tried to intervene on the Southbank near Waterloo station.
Here’s pictures from the scene:
Georgia official: Man shot and killed by police after taking officer’s Taser outside Atlanta Wendy’s
By CNN’s Elise Hammond and Artemis Moshtaghian
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) provided an update on the fatal police-involved shooting of a black man at an Atlanta fast food drive-thru last night.
According to GBI Director Vic Reynolds, at around 10:33 p.m. ET on Friday night, Atlanta Police requested the assistance of the GBI in an officer-involved shooting at a Wendy’s restaurant on University Ave in Southeast Atlanta. The incident involved two Atlanta Police officers and Rayshard Brooks.
The GBI has continuously worked on the investigation since being called into the matter Friday night and has spoken with several witnesses and viewed different surveillance videos including Wendy’s surveillance footage and video taken by witnesses posted to social media, Reynolds said in a news conference Saturday afternoon.
The statement made early Saturday morning by the GBI was released after officials reviewed body cam footage provided by the APD.
What happened, according to the GBI: Reynolds said it appears that Brooks was under investigation by the APD for a suspected DUI offense, and that sometime during the course of the investigation, he became engaged with two Atlanta officers and that engagement turned into a physical confrontation, as seen on video.
During the course of that confrontation, Brooks was able to secure the Taser from one of the Atlanta police officers, Reynolds said.
Based on surveillance footage from Wendy’s, GBI says it appears that Brooks ran off with one of the officers’ Tasers and made it only short distance away, the length of what is described as 5-7 parking spaces, and then turns around, and points the Taser at the Atlanta officer.
“At that point the Atlanta officer reaches down and retrieves his weapon from his holster, discharges it, strikes Mr. Brooks there on the parking lot and he goes down,” Reynolds said.
Moving forward: Reynolds said he instructed agents to expedite the investigation, saying he wants to be “very, very quick” but still “very thorough.”
“We have to do it the right way. I’m sure when I speak to the public that anybody who had a loved one in this situation on either side, either as a law enforcement officer or as someone who has been involved in a situation where officers used deadly force that they want the investigation done correctly. They want it done thoroughly, and they want it done right,” he said.
The GBI says it will make surveillance video of the incident available to the media Saturday evening with a digital enhance of what the GBI focused on in the investigation into the incident.
“In circumstances like this, when an officer is involved in the use of deadly force, people have a right to know how it happened. Where it happened. The circumstances surrounding the situation,” Reynolds said.
Read more:
US Secret Service says it used pepper spray in Lafayette Park ahead of Trump’s photo op
From CNN’s Jamie Crawford
The US Secret Service issued a statement Saturday saying an “agency employee” used pepper spray on June 1 during efforts to secure Lafayette Park and clear protesters from the area just prior to President Trump’s walk from the White House and across the park.
Trump was headed to his photo op holding a bible outside St. John’s Episcopal Church.
In the statement, the Secret Service noted the agency previously “released information stating the agency had concluded that no agency personnel used tear gas or capsicum spray during efforts to secure the area near Lafayette Park on Monday, June 1, based on the records and information available at the time. Since that time, the agency has learned that one agency employee used capsicum spray (i.e., pepper spray) during that effort.”
“The employee utilized oleoresin capsicum spray, or pepper spray, in response to an assaultive individual,” the agency also said in the statement.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the US Park Police said that the department had made a mistake by earlier denying use of tear gas to clear peaceful protesters from a public park outside the White House on June 1.
Sgt. Eduardo Delgado, a spokesperson for the Park Police, told CNN on June 5, he realized the department could have called the pepper balls it used “tear gas,” and that it was a “mistake” to say the force hadn’t used tear gas during the operation.
Read the statement:
Protesters gather in Atlanta following fatal officer-involved shooting at fast food drive-thru
From CNN’s Joseph Bonheim
Protesters have begun to gather at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta and other parts of the city to demonstrate against police brutality following the fatal shooting of a man by a police officer at a fast food drive-thru last night.
According to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) statement, an Atlanta police officer shot and killed a man at a Wendy’s drive-thru Friday night after he resisted arrest and struggled for an officer’s Taser.
The GBI identified the slain man as Rayshard Brooks, 27, of Atlanta, who was African American.
The GBI is expected to give a news conference shortly.
Watch CNN correspondent Natasha Chen’s reporting from Atlanta:
Georgia NAACP president calls for Atlanta police chief to be terminated
From CNN’s Chandler Thornton
The Georgia NAACP branch is calling for Atlanta’s police chief Erika Shields to be terminated immediately after the death of Rayshard Brooks Friday night.
“We are done dying,” Georgia NAACP’s president James Woodall said in a media call Saturday addressing the incident.
“The City of Atlanta must not only address this with their words, but also their actions,” Woodall said.
This comes after an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Brooks at a Wendy’s drive-thru Friday night after he resisted arrest and struggled for an officer’s Taser, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
The president also called on Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Chief Shields to speak publicly on Brooks’ death.
There has been “complete silence from the City of Atlanta,” NAACP President James Woodall said in the press call. “The silence is deafening.”
Woodall then quoted Martin Luther King Jr saying, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” after calling on the termination of Police Chief Erika Shields.
The NAACP president also said the Georgia branch has hired a private investigator and is calling on Wendy’s to release the surveillance footage from the incident.
CNN has reached to Atlanta Police Department on Saturday multiple times without receiving a response.
Cousin of Atlanta police shooting victim: “I thought this city was better than that”
From CNN’s Natasha Chen, Maria Cartaya and Artemis Moshtaghian in Atlanta
A relative of Rayshard Brooks, Decatur Redd, spoke with reporters and a crowd gathered outside of the Wendy’s in southeast Atlanta where the fatal shooting took place on Friday night.
“I don’t know how to do this because I never knew that I was going to have to do this,” a visibly distraught Redd told the crowd.
“I’ve watched this on the internet, from the whole George Floyd situation to us coming together like we’re doing and this whole thing landed on my doorstep with my little cousin,” Redd said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that an Atlanta police officer shot and killed a man at a Wendy’s drive-thru Friday night after he resisted arrest and struggled for an officer’s Taser. The GBI identified the slain man as Rayshard Brooks, 27, of Atlanta, who was African American.
Witnesses provided video to investigators, the GBI said on Twitter.
Redd said he’s seen the video(s) circulating on social media and that it’s the worst thing that he could wake up to, knowing that his whole family saw the video and what happened to their cousin.
“I thought Atlanta was higher than that. I thought Atlanta was bigger than that,” Redd said.
Redd pleaded to authorities to investigate the situation and not let Brooks die in vain.
“We’ve been watching this happen for so many years, with young black boys around the country just dying in vain —I just don’t want that to continue and keep happening like that,” Redd said.
“I didn’t think it would hit right here, man. I thought this city was better than that. They’ve got to answer. Somebody’s gotta say something,” Redd said, “We need to at least know that the city is with us.”
CNN has reached out to the Atlanta Police Department (APD), GBI and the mayor’s office but they have not responded.
The GBI is investigating at the request of the APD, the statement said. Once completed, the case will be turned over to prosecutors for review.
Watch Decatur Redd, Rayshard Brooks’ cousin, speak to reporters:
Stacey Abrams reacts to Atlanta police shooting: “Sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death”
From CNN’s Dianne Gallagher
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams reacted to last night’s shooting outside of a Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement, that an Atlanta police officer shot and killed a man at a Wendy’s drive-thru Friday night after he resisted arrest and struggled for an officer’s Taser.
The GBI identified the slain man as Rayshard Brooks, 27, of Atlanta, who was African American.
Abrams said in her tweet that last night’s shooting “demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force.
“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force. Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should accountability. Sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death,” Abrams said in a tweet.
Read more:
Ludacris creates media platform to teach kids about racial inequality through music
Christopher Bridges, an award-winning hip-hop artist and actor who is better known as Ludacris, founded a new media platform to help talk to kids about big topics, such as racism.
The rapper said his own children and the outcry of racial injustice across the world inspired him to create KidNation.
“I’m trying to use my platform to create another platform for all of the parents that are doing the online classes,” he told CNN on Saturday. “How can I help, in a positive way and have these conversations and to make way for the new generation,” he added.
Right now, KidNation has two song on their website –– one called “Get Along” about racism and another called “Stay Clean” about the importance of hygiene.
“We’ll launch the entire site toward the end of the summer but I’m trying to do my part in helping,” Ludacris said.
He said KidNation is just one way he is trying to make change and encouraged everyone to continue to fight for equality.
“I feel like we have everyone’s ear and I feel like we have to keep the pressure on because there’s a lot that needs to happen, obviously,” Ludacris said.
“I am out there in the streets with my own people just trying to continue to fight for all of the injustices. So I think if everybody does a little bit, then we’ll continue to push forward 100%,” he added.
Watch the interview:
The scene in Paris as thousands gather to protest against police brutality and racism
From CNN’s Eva Tapiero, Emma Reynolds, Simon Cullen and Max Ramsay
CNN International anchor Cyril Vanier described the scene in Paris where thousands have gathered to protest against police brutality – an issue symbolized by the 2016 death of a young black man, Adama Traoré, in police custody.
Saturday’s protests have been organized by 17 groups, including the family’s “Truth for Adama” campaign.
“The responsibility in his death has not been fully determined. That’s one of the things that has angered, not only his family but the crowds. So, they have come out to protest against racism, police violence and justice, in this specific case of Adama Traoré, who also died like George Floyd, saying ‘I can’t breathe,'” Vanier told CNN’s viewers.
According to police, 15,000 people have gathered to protest, Vanier said.
There have been clashes in central Paris, Vanier said, with protesters firing fireworks and police trying to clear the area with tear gas.
There are fewer people gathered now than earlier in the day, Vanier noted. The groups still protesting are looking “to get their message across” with their fist in the air and making eye contact with the police, Vanier said.
While police have not formally banned today’s protests, gatherings of more than 10 people are not permitted under France’s coronavirus laws.
Authorities on Friday urged businesses in Place de la République and Place de l’Opéra to close and to remove anything that could be used as a weapon.
SEE THE PROTESTS IN PARIS:
