Another African American Shot Dead; #BlackLivesMatter Protests Erupt Across USA

alva-braziel
© Alva Braziel / Facebook

Police fatally shot an African-American in the early hours of Saturday in Houston, Texas. The man, identified by media as Alva Braziel, was reportedly shot ten times after he pointed his gun at law enforcement.

The shooting took place at about 12:40am on Cullen. According to the police, they spotted a man on the road with a revolver. When they asked him to put the gun down, he reportedly raised the gun in the air before pointing it at police.

Braziel is the latest casualty in a series of fatal police shootings that have enraged the US.

In the space of 48 hours, two black men were killed by police officers this week, with footage from both scenes circulating online. On Tuesday, Anton Sterling was killed in Louisiana’s Baton Rouge after being roughly taken to the ground by two officers who shot him while he was pinned down.

In Falcon Heights, Minnesota on Wednesday Philando Castile was pulled fatally shot by a police officer after he was pulled over for an alleged broken taillight. He was fired at as he was reaching for his driver’s license. His girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter were in the car at the time, and Reynolds streamed the aftermath on Facebook, bringing the incident into the public eye.

Meanwhile protesters marched again Saturday in cities nationwide to decry police brutality after the killing of two African-American men by police this week.

While many were peaceful, events turned ugly in St. Paul, Minnesota, where protesters clashed with police on Interstate 94. At least two officers were injured by protesters — one hit with a glass bottle and the other by fireworks, according to St. Paul police. Police used crowd control measures including smoke, police spokesman Steve Linders said. Parts of the freeway are closed after as many as 200 people forced their way past Minnesota state patrol troopers who were trying to block them from getting on the road.

In Atlanta, a group of protesters confronted police over Interstates 75 and 85, then moved into the Midtown business district. Friday night, a large group that included rapper T.I. blocked a downtown Atlanta Interstate ramp. Marchers also took to the streets Saturday night in Miami, with police saying Interstate 395 was shut down for a brief period. A reporter for CNN affiliate WPLG tweeted that demonstrators had blocked a major thoroughfare.

The protests came after a sniper killed five police officers during a demonstration in Dallas on Thursday. Black Lives Matter condemned the Dallas attack, calling it a tragedy not just for those affected but also for the nation. “Black activists have raised the call for an end to violence, not an escalation of it. (Thursday’s) attack was the result of the actions of a lone gunman,” the group said in a statement on its website. “To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible. We continue our efforts to bring about a better world for all of us.”

Support Countercurrents

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B.
Become a Patron at Patreon

Join Our Newsletter

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

Join our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Get CounterCurrents updates on our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Related Posts

Violation of Human Rights in India in 2023

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Indian government continued with state policies that discriminate and stigmatise religious and other minorities resulting in increasing incidents of communal violence in many parts of…

Join Our Newsletter


Annual Subscription

Join Countercurrents Annual Fund Raising Campaign and help us

Latest News