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Protests after Black man killed by police in Atlanta
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Atlanta in protest against the fatal shooting by police of a Black man who had fallen asleep in his car while waiting in line at a fast food drive-through south of downtown.
The Friday night incident comes at a time of heightened tension over police brutality and calls for reforms across the United States following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Police had been called on 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks for sleeping in a car blocking the drive-through lane of a Wendy’s restaurant on Friday night. After Brooks failed a field sobriety test, the officers attempted to place him into custody, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI), an independent agency that has been asked by the Atlanta Police Department to investigate the killing.
According to the GBI, Brooks resisted arrest and a struggle ensued, leading an officer to deploy a Taser.
When the Taser did not work, Brooks reportedly tried to take it from the officer. A second officer then tried to use a Taser on Brooks, but it had no effect, Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy Peek told reporters after the incident. During the tussle, Brooks was shot and later died at a local hospital.
The GBI said in a statement it was investigating reports “that the male subject was shot by an officer in the struggle over the Taser”.
A crowd of demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting on Saturday.
The president of the Georgia NAACP, the Reverend James Woodall, has called for the firing of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper.
The GBI said it was reviewing video footage of the incident taken by witnesses. That video, which was posted on social media, shows Brooks on the ground outside his car, struggling with two police officers. The shooting later occurs out of frame.
Atlanta was among many large US cities where large crowds of protesters have taken to the streets in recent days.
Gerald Griggs, a lawyer and vice president of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter, estimated there were 150 people protesting at the scene as he walked with them on Saturday afternoon.
“The people are upset,” Griggs said. “They want to know why their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything.”
Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Griggs said, “they could have used nonlethal force to take him down”.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his office has also “launched an intense, independent investigation of the incident”.
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted on Saturday of the shooting that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death”.
“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force,” Abrams’s tweet said. “Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should accountability.”
The officers involved in the shooting were not immediately identified.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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