Cops turn on bodycams after the killing of unarmed black man

The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by police in Columbus, Ohio was the city’s second such killing this month.

A Black Lives Matter protest against the killing of Andre Hill in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday. Picture: AFP

The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by police in Columbus, Ohio — the US city’s second such killing this month — sparked a fresh wave of protests on Thursday against racial injustice and police brutality in the country.

Andre Maurice Hill, 47, was in the garage of a house on Monday night when he was shot several times by a policeman who had been called to the scene for a minor incident.

The officer and his female partner didn’t turn their body cameras on until after the shooting.

“Our community is exhausted,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther. “It is unacceptable to me, and to the community, that the officers did not turn on their cameras.”

The cameras have a 60-second “look-back” function that lets the camera recall the minute of video just before the device is activated, so authorities have video footage of the shooting, police said. Seconds before the gunfire, bodycam footage shows Mr Hill walking towards the policeman holding a cell phone in his left hand, while his other hand cannot be seen.

Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan said on Thursday (Friday AEDT) that he was moving to fire the officer, Adam Coy, on allegations of “critical misconduct”.

“We have an officer who violated his oath to comply with the rules and policies of the Columbus Division of Police,” Mr Quinlan said. “This violation cost an innocent man his life.”

Andre Hill.

According to local reports, Mr Coy had previously received complaints of excessive force.

Mr Coy and his colleague waited several minutes before approaching Mr Hill, who was still alive, but died later. Mr Hill, the second African-American killed by police in Columbus in less than three weeks, was not carrying a weapon.

Casey Goodson Jr, 23, was shot several times on December 4 while returning home. His family has said he was holding a sandwich officers mistook for a gun. Several dozen protesters gathered Thursday, waving Black Lives Matter signs and calling for justice for people killed in police shootings.

The killings in Columbus come after a summer in which the US was rocked by protests against racial injustice and police brutality, sparked by the May killing of African-American man George Floyd.

Sacked Colombus Ohio police officer Adam Coy.

Floyd, also unarmed, suffocated beneath the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. Horrified passers-by filmed his death, with the footage swiftly going viral.

“Once again officers see a black man and conclude that he’s criminal and dangerous,” said lawyer Ben Crump, who defends several families of police brutality victims including Floyd’s, on Wednesday.

Mr Ginther on Wednesday said he was “outraged” by Mr Hill’s death. He was “known to the residents of the home where his car was parked on the street”, he said, describing him as a “guest … not an intruder.” He was “very disturbed” that the two officers did not give first aid to Mr Hill and called for Mr Coy’s “immediate termination”.

AFP