The police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant in Ohio was “tragic” and came “just as America was hopeful of a step forward” after the guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
Bryant, 16, was shot in Columbus, Ohio Tuesday after police arrived at the scene and witnessed her wielding a knife and attacking a man. While initial media reports said Bryant had in fact been unarmed, bodycam footage from the officers shows Bryant wielding a knife while pressing the man up against a vehicle.
.@PressSec: “The killing of 16yo Ma’Khia Bryant by the Columbus police is tragic. She was a child. We’re thinking of her friends and family and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss. We know police violence disproportionately impacts Black and Latino people.”
— Joey Garrison (@joeygarrison) April 21, 2021
Psaki says Biden has been briefed on the deadly police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, which happened minutes before the Chauvin verdict was announced
She says the shooting is “a tragedy” that happened “just as America was hopeful of a step forward” pic.twitter.com/MTZ9EcqObt
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2021
Protesters gathered outside a Columbus police building Tuesday evening in reaction to the shooting.
Protesters gathered outside the police department headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, after officers shot and killed a Black teenage girl https://t.co/wsjfKolLfl pic.twitter.com/yetr1n7m3I
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 21, 2021
Biden praised the guilty-on-all-counts verdict in the Chauvin case. He and his administration say the verdict is not enough, however, and reforms to policing are necessary.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday a federal investigation into the Minnesota Police, saying the problem of police violence against minorities in the state may be a “pattern.”
JUST IN: Attorney General Merrick Garland: “The Justice Department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing.” https://t.co/Os1KFA0kQP pic.twitter.com/GWlccR1buE
— ABC News (@ABC) April 21, 2021