Akron police release video of killing of unarmed Black man Jayland Walker


Akron, Ohio, Police Chief Steve Mylett said Sunday that body camera video his department released appeared to show that Jayland Walker reached toward his waist and briefly turned toward officers before they fatally shot him on June 27.
Walker, 25, fled after a routine traffic stop. One of the two videos released showed a flash police say was gunfire coming from the door of Walker's Buick. The second video shows bodycam images during the chase and shooting. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan called the clips "heartbreaking."
Protesters spent the weekend marching in Akron, and local Black elected officials have called for the Justice Department to investigate the incident, noting that Walker was unarmed when he was shot, yet officers fired more than 90 shots at him; about 60 hit Walker. A handgun was found in Walker's car.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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