Black Lives Still Don't Matter In US As Two More Black Men Shot By Cops, 1 Dead; Protests Erupt

The murder of George Floyd, a black man by the Minneapolis Police in May this year had triggered massive protests in the country and beyond.

The call, Black Lives Matter took the center stage as it exposed how black Americans are disproportionately killed by cops, often white officers, even when they do not pose any threat.

REUTERS

As the call for police reforms grew louder, police forces across the US had acknowledged that there was a problem, and promised to do more to address it.

But it appears like the cops are refusing to change their ways and more black men will be killed by them.

Two separate incidents of shootings

In the past couple of days, two incidents have been reported from the US, where two black men were shot at by the police in two separate incidents.

REUTERS

In the first incident, police in Louisiana shot and killed a man as he tried to enter a convenience store with a knife, authorities said. The shooting was captured on video, and the state ACLU condemned what it described as a "horrific and deadly incident of police violence against a Black person.''

31-year-old Trayford Pellerin succumbed to bullet injury

The state police said the man was still armed with a knife when he tried to enter another convenience store, which was occupied, when he was shot. The man, identified as 31-year-old Trayford Pellerin, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

REUTERS

Even as the protest against Pellerin's killing was continuing another similar incident has surfaced.

'Jacob Blake shot 7 times'

Jacob Blake, a black man was shot at seven times by the police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

29-year-old Blake was shot on the back by the cops on Sunday after what the police department said the officers were responding to a "domestic incident."

In a widely seen cellphone video made by an onlooker, Blake was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.

Blake who suffered multiple gunshots is admitted to a hospital.

AFP

The civil-rights attorney Ben Crump said Blake's three sons were in the car when the shots were fired.

"They saw a cop shoot their father. They will be traumatized forever," Crump said on Twitter. "We cannot let officers violate their duty to PROTECT us. Our kids deserve better!!"

Confirmed: Jacob Blake¡¯s 3 SONS were IN THE CAR he was getting into when @KenoshaPolice shot him tonight. They saw a cop shoot their father. They will be traumatized forever. We cannot let officers violate their duty to PROTECT us. Our kids deserve better!! #JusticeForJacobBlake

¡ª Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 24, 2020

The two recent incidents have once again ignited protests, which has at times turned violent.

Protesters chanted, ¡°No justice, no peace¡± as they confronted a line of law enforcement officers who wore protective gear and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse entrance.

AP

Police first fired the tear gas about 30 minutes after the 8 pm curfew took effect and protesters refused to disperse. But hundreds of people stuck around, lighting fires and screaming at police.