Pages

Thursday 3 September 2020

Graphic new footage captures the moment black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, is gunned down by LA cops who 'shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body'

Graphic new footage has captured the moment black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, was gunned down in the street by LA cops who allegedly shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body. 
The grainy surveillance video appears to show Kizzee running from the officers and falling to the ground before they shoot him dead, raising more questions about the cops' use of deadly force.
Kizzee was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in South Los Angeles Monday afternoon. 
The 29-year-old Lancaster man, who was visiting family in LA at the time, was riddled with bullets, with the attorney for his devastated family saying the cops shot him 20 times.  
His death has sparked protests in LA calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism after what marks yet another incident where a black man has been killed by cops in recent months. 

Graphic new footage has captured the moment black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, was gunned down in the street by LA cops who allegedly shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body
Graphic new footage has captured the moment black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, was gunned down in the street by LA cops who allegedly shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body
The grainy surveillance video appears to show Kizzee running from the officers and falling to the ground before they shoot him dead, raising more questions on the cops' use of deadly force and casting doubts on the threat he posed to officers. Kizzee is circled running
The grainy surveillance video appears to show Kizzee running from the officers and falling to the ground before they shoot him dead, raising more questions on the cops' use of deadly force and casting doubts on the threat he posed to officers. Kizzee is circled running
Kizzee, 29, (pictured) was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in South Los Angeles Monday afternoon
Kizzee, 29, (pictured) was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in South Los Angeles Monday afternoon
Newly-obtained footage has provided a new angle of the shooting death of the 29-year-old.     
The grainy footage shows a figure - thought to be Kizzee - running down the sidewalk followed by at least two deputies. 
A struggle can be seen between at least two individuals before Kizzee continues to try to run from the cops and stumbles, falling to the ground.
At this point, dust is seen shooting into the air as the officers open fire on the black man while he is on the ground.  
The video is grainy and fencing in the residential area blocks the full view. 
However, it raises questions over the potential threat Kizzee could have posed to the officers when they shot him multiple times.  
Cops have given very few details about the incident but have claimed Kizzee dropped a handgun and 'made a motion toward' it, which is when the deputies opened fire, the sheriff's department said Tuesday. 

The new footage casts doubt on this version of events as it shows Kizzee trying to flee from officers and falling over in the seconds before gunfire rings out.   
Kizzee's family say his death is the latest in a string of unwarranted and unlawful killings of black Americans by police
He is shown with a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend
Kizzee's family say his death is the latest in a string of unwarranted and unlawful killings of black Americans by police. He is shown (right) with a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend
The footage also reinforces the accounts of several witnesses who said Kizzee was trying to get away from the cops and did not point a weapon at officers. 
One eyewitness Latiera Irby, 29, told LA Times she saw 'nothing in [Kizzee's] hands' and that she saw him being shot after he had fallen to the ground. 
Irby said she was visiting her mom in the neighborhood when Kizzee ran up to her car and asked her to drive him away from the scene.  
'He said, "They're coming to get me; they're coming to get me,"' she said.
'I didn't know who he was running from, so I told him no.'
She then saw him get into a scuffle with one cop, before the cop backed away, she said.
That deputy and another then gunned down Kizzee after he fell over, she said. 
'He had nothing in his hands,' she added.
Deja, another witness, told AFP she didn't see Kizzee holding a gun and saw deputies handcuff him after the shooting - despite him being shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.
Another witness questioned the cops' claims Kizzee punched one of the officers prior to the shooting.  
'They say the man punched the deputy, but I never saw that happen,' Alida Trejo, 52, told LA Times.
She said she heard up to 10 shots being fired at the black man.   
Kizzee, dressed in a white tank-top and pants, is seen lying face down in the road by the right-rear tire of a silver pick-up truck after cops shot him around 20 times in the street
Kizzee, dressed in a white tank-top and pants, is seen lying face down in the road by the right-rear tire of a silver pick-up truck after cops shot him around 20 times in the street 
Doorbell camera captures fatal police shooting of Dijon Kizzee in LA
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
0:00
Previous
Play
Skip
Mute
Current Time0:00
/
Duration Time0:20
Fullscreen
Need Text
A separate video from a front door camera of a nearby home recorded the sound of at least 15 gunshots ring out. 
The actual shooting cannot be seen on the video. 
Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who represents Kizzee's family and the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Jacob Blake, said Kizzee was shot more than 20 times. 
According to Crump, his body was also left on the street for several hours. 
'They say he ran, dropped clothes and handgun,' he tweeted. 'He didn't pick it up, but cops shot him in the back 20+ times then left him for hours.' 
One witness Timothy Ingram told LA Times Kizzee's body was left in the street until around 1 a.m. - he was shot at 3:16 p.m.  
Ingram also said authorities refused to cover his body.  
Two days on from the fatal shooting authorities have released very little information about Monday's events.  
Lt. Brandon Dean said Monday two LA sheriff's deputies spotted Kizzee riding a bicycle in violation of vehicle codes and made a U-turn and tried to pull him over.
Kizzee dropped the bicycle and fled on foot for a block, Dean said. 
The cops caught up with him and tried to make contact with him again. 
As they approached, Dean said Kizzee, who was clutching items of clothing in his hands, punched one of the officers in the face and then dropped the items he was carrying. 
'The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semi-automatic handgun,' Dean said.
The two officers - who have not been named - are seen aiming their firearms at the downed suspect having seemingly just shot him. They then allegedly handcuffed his dead body
The two officers - who have not been named - are seen aiming their firearms at the downed suspect having seemingly just shot him. They then allegedly handcuffed his dead body 
LA County deputies shoot black man and cuff him allegedly when dead
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
0:00
Previous
Play
Skip
Mute
Current Time0:00
/
Duration Time0:59
Fullscreen
Need Text
The two officers then both opened fire on the man, striking him several times. 
Kizzee was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were injured during the incident.
Footage of the aftermath appears to show the cops handcuffing Kizzee's dead body. 
In the footage, Kizzee is lying motionless on the ground.
Four cops are seen approaching him and handcuffing him while bystanders are heard screaming 'how are you going to handcuff a dead man?' and 'Black Lives Matter'.   
Authorities have provided no details on the unspecified vehicle code Kizzee was allegedly violating when the officers tried to pull him over.
They have also not released bodycam footage of the incident - or said whether it exists - or named the officers involved.
Authorities have also not confirmed how many times Rizzee was shot.  
The two officers who shot Kizzee have been removed from the field as the investigation continues and placed on desk duty, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.
It is unclear what has happened with the other two.    
Protesters at a makeshift memorial on Tuesday evening at the spot where Kizzee was killed by Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies. Protests have erupted in LA following Kizzee's death as people demand answers over the shooting
Protesters at a makeshift memorial on Tuesday evening at the spot where Kizzee was killed by Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies. Protests have erupted in LA following Kizzee's death as people demand answers over the shooting
Demonstrators gathered at a makeshift memorial at the site of the shooting in Los Angeles Tuesday evening. Kizzee's death is the latest in a string of cop killings of black men in America
Demonstrators gathered at a makeshift memorial at the site of the shooting in Los Angeles Tuesday evening. Kizzee's death is the latest in a string of cop killings of black men in America
Protests have erupted in LA following Kizzee's death as people demand answers over the shooting and outrage builds over what marks yet another cop killing of a black man in America.  
Thousands have taken to the streets demanding justice and calling for an end to police brutality and racism since May following the 'murder' of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he passed out and died. 
Floyd's death reignited outrage over the death of Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot eight times while sleeping in her bed when three plain clothes officers performed a no-knock arrest warrant at her Louisville apartment on March 13. 
In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran away from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.  
Just over a week before Kizzee's death, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children on August 23, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.      

No comments:

Post a Comment