Clashes erupt after officers kill black man
MEMPHIS — Police appealed for calm in a tense Memphis neighborhood Thursday where about 35 officers were injured by a rock-throwing crowd following a black man’s shooting death by U.S. marshals on a fugitive task force.
Elected officials condemned the violence, and the police chief pleaded for patience while the shooting is investigated. But unanswered questions left many people angry as they bitterly recalled a litany of police-involved shootings around the country.
Shortly after the task force shot 20-year-old Brandon Webber early Wednesday evening, people began to gather in the area and their numbers grew as people live-streamed the scene on social media. Memphis police initially responded in street uniforms, then returned in riot gear as people threw rocks and bricks.
Mayor Jim Strickland said about 35 officers were injured, raising the toll from 24 earlier. He had said six needed hospital treatment.
Officers cordoned off several blocks in the Frayser neighborhood north of downtown and arrested three people. By 11 p.m., officers had used tear gas and most of the crowd dispersed, Police Director Michael Rallings said.
Early Thursday, officers on horseback patrolled, and lines of police cars with flashing blue lights were parked along the street. An ambulance waited at the outer edge, and a helicopter flew overhead.
Webber’s home sits in a residential area of the workingclass neighborhood of north Memphis, where a tense calm hung over the neighborhood Thursday afternoon. The police presence was minimal, with two police cars parked in front of a nearby fire station. No uniformed officers were visible.
About 20 people stood outside of Webber’s one-story house, and others gathered nearby. One woman wept loudly and hugged a man as she cried.
The Rev. Andre Johnson was standing among the protesters when tear gas was released Wednesday night. He said he heard no police order to disperse.
“All of a sudden, tear gas came out and, of course, people then began to disperse,” Johnson said, adding his eyes and throat stung from the gas.
Johnson said people are upset because they still do not know why marshals sought to arrest Webber, whom he called a beloved member of the community.
“The problem with it is they feel that police and the administration and city officials do not treat them as humans,” Johnson said.