Protesters Clog Traffic in Indianapolis After Two Black Men Killed After Shoot-outs With Police

Brittany M. Hughes | May 8, 2020

Hundreds of protesters, many of them wearing masks but not standing six feet apart, clustered together in Indianapolis and clogged up traffic to protest the police shooting death of two black men in back-to-back incidents this week.

But unlike the fatal shooting in Georgia that left 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery dead at the hands of two white vigilantes, police say the dead men in Indianapolis had both engaged in a shootout with officers before they were killed.

Dreasjon Reed, 21, live-streamed himself leading police on a car chase, which ended with him jumping out of the vehicle and fleeing on foot. After the officer fired at him with a taser, Reed exchanged gunfire with the officers and was ultimately shot and killed, police say. Video of the incident hasn’t yet been released, and local reports say it offers few details as to the key moments of the altercation. 

In a separate incident, police say officers were attacked “ambush-style” by another black man, which Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Randal Taylor suggested might have been related to the first fatal shooting.

But claims that the shootings were justified and even provoked by the suspects themselves, protesters still gathered together holding signs with photos of the dead men, alleging the cops were racist and hollering “no justice, no peace!”
 


Taylor said the department is investigating both incidents to determine if there was any misconduct by his officers. He has already announced “ immediate disciplinary action” against one detective involved in the Reed shooting, who can be heard on his dashcam saying, “I think it’s going to be a closed casket, homie” during the pursuit.