Memphis police officials urge calm after protest of black man’s killing
Crowd pelts cops with rocks, bricks
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police appealed for calm in a tense Memphis neighborhood Thursday where about 35 officers were injured by a rock-throwing crowd following a black man’s shooting death by U.S. marshals on a fugitive task force.
Elected officials condemned the violence, and the police chief pleaded for patience while the shooting is investigated. But unanswered questions left many people angry as they bitterly recalled a litany of police-involved shootings around the country.
Shortly after the task force shot 20-year-old Brandon Webber early Wednesday evening, people began to gather in the area and their numbers swelled as some livestreamed the scene on social media. Memphis police initially responded in street uniforms, then returned in riot gear as people began throwing rocks and bricks.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said about 35 officers were injured, raising the number significantly from the 24 reported earlier. He said six needed hospital treatment.
During the nighttime unrest, officers cordoned off several blocks in the Frayser neighborhood north of downtown and arrested three people. By 11 p.m., officers had used tear gas and most of the crowd dispersed, police director Michael Rallings said.
The police director implored residents to wait until the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, or TBI, finishes its investigation. He appealed for people to refrain from violence and from spreading possible misinformation about the shooting.
“I need everyone to stay calm,” Director Rallings said.
After Mr. Webber was shot as marshals were trying to arrest him Wednesday evening, Mr. Strickland said, protesters threw rocks and spit on police, injuring officers who responded.
Separately, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said through a spokesman that the shooting would be fulling investigated. Mr. Lee’s press secretary, Laine Arnold, also said in a statement that the crowd’s actions “are not representative of the community but we stand firmly against acts of lawlessness that threaten the safety of our neighborhoods.”
On Thursday morning, officers on horseback patrolled, lines of police cars with flashing blue lights were parked along the street and a helicopter flew overhead.
Mr. Webber’s home is in a residential area of the working-class neighborhood of north Memphis. By Thursday afternoon, the police presence was minimal, with two police cars parked in front of a nearby fire station. No uniformed officers were visible.
About 20 people stood outside of Mr. Webber’s one-story house, and others gathered nearby. One woman wept loudly and hugged a man as she cried.
Spokeswoman Keli McAlister at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force went to a Frayser home to look for a suspect with felony warrants. She said marshals spotted the man getting into a vehicle and it then proceeded to ram task force vehicles several times before he got out with a weapon.
Marshals then opened fire, killing the man, she said. The TBI identified the dead man as Mr. Webber.