Protesters gathered outside the Akron Police Department on Monday, the fifth consecutive day of protests over the police shooting death of Jayland Walker.
Walker, 25 at the time, was killed after reportedly being shot by 8 Akron Police officers after fleeing a traffic stop in the early hours of June 27th. A press conference held Sunday to release bodycam footage stated that a firearm was found in Walker’s vehicle, though he was unarmed at the location where he was shot. The conference did not give an exact number of shots fired by Akron police, stating that the investigation is ongoing, though early reports indicate he was shot upwards of 60 times by the officers.
Protesters have been gathering daily calling for justice for Jayland Walker, with demonstrations outside the police department downtown, the mayor’s residence, and elsewhere in Akron. Most demonstrations have been peaceful. Some property damage did occur on Sunday night, hours after the release of the bodycam footage, with windows smashed at a few downtown buildings and of highway maintenance vehicles that have been set up in the streets as roadblocks around the Justice Center. Teargas was deployed and 50 arrests made on Sunday night, promoting the mayor to declare a state of emergency and issue a 9 pm curfew Monday night.
Demonstrations on Monday were peaceful throughout the day, with a march to the Mayor’s residence in the early afternoon, and speeches and chants outside the police station downtown in the evening. Police brought out armored vehicles behind the station, and officers inside dressed in riot gear. Protesters decided to disperse before the curfew, with the area emptied of all but press by 9 pm Monday night. Several police vehicles outside the blockaded areas were seen as curfew set in, though no reports have emerged so far of any arrests made in the downtown curfew-affected area.
