UPDATED: 11:16 a.m. EDT —
There was outrage in Memphis overnight after a young man named Brandon Webber was shot and killed by law enforcement Wednesday night. City residents staged a massive protest resulting in several officers being injured.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said the U.S. Marshal Service’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies were executing multiple felony warrants on Webber in Frayser, a neighborhood near downtown Memphis, around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the Daily Memphian reported.
“While attempting to stop the individual, he reportedly rammed his vehicle into the officers’ vehicles multiple times before exiting with a weapon,” TBI said in a statement. “The officers fired striking and killing the individual. No officers were injured.”
Police have not identified Brandon Webber as the victim, but local family members have.
Officers shot at Webber as many as 20 times, his cousin Demetrick Skinner said. Webber allegedly died in front of his family’s front yard. Yolanda Holmes, Webber’s aunt, said she was trying to confirm if Webber was actually shooting at the police.
A person named Ronni Williams claiming to be Webber’s cousin took to Twitter to defend him as an “honor student” who should not be labeled as a “drug dealer.”
https://twitter.com/ronni_2k/status/1139033925366538240
Keli McAlister, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said in a news conference early Thursday that it was “unclear” how many marshals had fired at Webber, according to The Washington Post.
The video below is allegedly of Webber’s girlfriend in labor. She claimed Webber was shot while he was in handcuffs and the police broke his neck.
https://twitter.com/putitonlce/status/1139047497425461261?s=12
Another user said Webber was shot, left for dead and police “didn’t get him in the ambulance just left him in the grass.”
https://twitter.com/GxdCxmplex/status/1138979697688293378
There were protests Wednesday night, which allegedly resulted in at least 24 officers and two journalists being injured, the Washington Post reported.
“Let me be clear — the aggression shown towards our officers and deputies tonight was unwarranted,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland wrote on Facebook before continuing. “I was proud of our first responders. I’m impressed by their professionalism and incredible restraint as they endured concrete rocks being thrown at them and people spitting at them.”
City Commissioner Tami Sawyer offered a tweet of caution.
https://twitter.com/tamisawyer/status/1139033427943014400
Clearly, there needs to be more transparency in this case. We hope the family of Brandon Webber gets justice.
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