In Philadelphia, family members of Walter Wallace Jr. said Thursday they do not want the officers who fatally shot the 27-year-old to face murder charges. Family attorney Shaka Johnson said the officers were not properly trained and didn’t have the right equipment to do their jobs properly. Johnson reviewed body camera footage of the killing, which is set to be publicly released next week; he says it shows Wallace threatening officers with a knife, but also that Wallace was incapacitated as soon as he was struck by the first of 14 shots fired by two officers.
Shaka Johnson: “What, other than death, did you intend when you shoot a man, each officer seven times apiece?”
Protests against Wallace’s killing continue in Philadelphia and across the U.S. On Thursday, Philadelphia’s City Council passed a ban on the use of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and other so-called less lethal weaponry on people exercising their First Amendment rights.