Black Lives Matter called for the arrest of the officer who shot a resisting black suspect Monday afternoon.
Friends and family of Levonia Riggins and BLM marched from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Operation Center to the site of the shooting, reports WFLA.
Activists paused their march in front of Git’N’Go, the convenience store where Riggins used to work. They blocked off a small part of the street for a couple of hours as they demanded that Deputy Caleb Johnson, the man who shot Riggins, be arrested and jailed.
“We’re destroyed. It’s a sad sad tragedy. We all out here to make sure that the officer goes to jail and everything,” Carniellius Branton, Riggins’ brother, said. Branton’s family adopted Riggins.
Johnson shot Riggins Aug. 30. Deputies executed a search warrant for illegal drugs at the house where Riggins’ family lived.
The SWAT team tried multiple times to get everyone out of the house. Three adults and a baby left the house, but Riggins refused to leave.
Deputies smashed a window where they thought Riggins was. A deputy, upon seeing Riggins, repeatedly told him to put his hands where he could see them.
Riggins refused and stayed hidden underneath the covers. Riggins’ hands went towards his waist band area and then Deputy Johnson shot him, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
“The deputy could not see what Mr. Riggins was doing but saw him moving around and was fearful he may be getting a weapon based on again the history of his arrests and connection to guns in the past,” Colonel Donna Lusczynski said.
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