An Ohio grand jury agreed Monday to reject possible charges against eight Akron police officers, seven of whom were white, for the shooting death of African-American Jayland Walker, 25, who received more than 40 bullet wounds after that the agents tried to stop him when he was driving a vehicle.
"The grand jury found that the officers used force in lawfully justified use of force," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced.
The incident occurred on June 27 and sparked demonstrations in Akron, which at times became destructive. Given the imminence of the ruling, the merchants protected their establishments with plywood plates in recent days and in the center of the city numerous fences and barriers were installed to prevent possible incidents once the decision was disseminated. The city established "a zone for demonstrations."
Walker died that day after the police tried to stop him. According to the video released at the time, the driver did not stop and the agents went after him. They pursued him first with their patrol vehicles and then on foot. The uniformed men thought that Walker had fired at them with a pistol from his car and, fearing they would be injured, they decided to respond with their weapons.
Yost assured this Monday that the fugitive fired at least once. However, Walker was unarmed when he abandoned his car and fled on foot, at which point he was mortally wounded. The policemen fired 94 bullets and 42 impacts were recorded on the deceased's body, the attorney general said.
The state's chief justice insisted that Walker refused to raise his hands and even made a motion to touch his waist, planting his feet, turning and raising his hand. “Only then did the officers open fire thinking Walker was shooting at them,” Yost said. In his exculpation, he reiterated that the uniformed officers did not know that the fugitive had left the gun in the car.
“Many officers, each making their own judgments about a threat, acted independently to neutralize that threat, creating a dynamic that exponentially amplified the use of force,” he added. "It's sad, but you have to remember that Walker shot at the police and that he did it in the first place," he concluded.
He also specified that as a prosecutor he had made a "neutral presentation of the evidence" to the grand jury ", which has been considering them for more than a week. He stressed that the judge overseeing the matter briefed the grand jury on the laws, rather than the prosecutor himself doing so "to avoid any question of the accuracy of the legal brief."
Toxicology analyzes indicated that Walker was not driving under the influence of alcohol or any other substance.
A few days later, the recording of the incident made by the Akron agents was released, images that caused the eruption of indignation at the hail of bullets and the protests in the streets. The protests lasted several days in this city of some 200,000 residents. Although they were mostly peaceful, they sometimes ended in riots that led to property damage and arrests.
The decision not to charge the agents made the fear of riots return. “If violence breaks out, demonstrations will be declared illegal,” Police Chief Steve Mylett warned of potential riots. And the authorities made a firm promise that there will be mass arrests "if the windows break and fires start."
