Source: Scott Olson / Getty
A South Side Chicago neighborhood was the site of violent clashes between police and residents of a community where an officer fatally shot an African-American man on Saturday evening.
Chicago activists have identified the man as Harith Augustus, better known as “Snoop,” a popular barber and proud father who worked in the South Shore community.
According to police (take this with a grain of salt), officers on foot saw “a man exhibiting characteristics of an armed person,” and when they tried to question him, a “confrontation” ensued. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that an officer then opened fire.
Augustus, thought to be in his 30s, was pronounced dead at Jackson Park Hospital, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson.
Within minutes of the fatal shooting, a crowd had gathered at the site of the killing to chant, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”
According to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter, Nader Issa, who was reporting live from South Shore, “people outside the crime scene after the shooting claimed a female officer shot the man, a neighborhood barber, at least five times in the back as he ran away, and that the officer was taken away from the scene in a police vehicle afterward as the crowd formed.”
South Shore resident Gloria Rainge says Snoop had been her barber for five years and was usually seen in the neighborhood with his 5-year-old daughter. Rainge said she watched him get shot. “He was cool, laid back, very intelligent,” she said, according to Issa.
By evening, Issa reports that 80-to-100 officers were on the scene, about the same amount or more protesters.
Four demonstrators were arrested late Saturday per Guglielmi; there are also reports that three or four officers were injured by rocks and bottles.
However, the violence was not just one-sided.
Issa himself reports that he was pushed to the ground by police, having his cell phone knocked away, even though he identified himself as press. He also posted a video of officers dragging a man and hitting others with batons.
READ MORE: TheRoot.com
Article Courtesy of The Root
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Third Picture, First though Fourth Video, First through Fifth Tweet Courtesy of The Root and Twitter
