Protests-turned-riots have erupted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania after Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists took to the streets, demanding “justice” for a knife-wielding African-American man who was shot and killed by a local police officer on Sunday.
The reportedly autistic black man was identified as 27-year-old Ricardo Munoz amid reports that his dead body was "visible on the ground for more than two hours".
Police declared an unlawful assembly and fired tear gas to disperse protesters who flooded to the police station in the southwest of Lancaster, chanting “Don't shoot” and other BLM slogans.
The Lancaster Bureau of Police, for its part, said that the incident had occurred after they responded to a domestic disturbance on the 300 block of Laurel Street at 4:15 on Sunday afternoon.
“While they’re conducting the criminal investigation, we’re going to be conducting our administrative personnel investigation to make sure that policy and training and use of force was properly followed”, bureau chief Jarrad Berkihiser said, in an apparent reference to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office probe.
The office earlier released body cam footage from the incident, which showed Munoz running toward a police officer with a knife above his head in a threatening manner, something that was then followed by the policeman firing at the 27-year-old.
Warning: The following video is graphic and may offend sensibilities
In May, George Floyd, an African-American man who had served time for a home invasion, was killed by a white police officer while in custody in Minneapolis, sparking massive demonstrations around the US, some of which turned violent and resulted in arson, looting, and clashes with heavily armed police.