Chicago Protests Break Out After Officer Fatally Shot Popular Black Barber
Residents and police officers have come to the point of clashing during the South Shore protests mounted by locals following the fatal shooting of a man on Saturday afternoon, July 14. Tensions mounted as police resorted to batons and some protesters turned to throwing bottles on Sunday evening.
The protesters gathered to denounce the fatal shooting of 37-year old Harith Augustus, identified by Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He was shot and killed after officers patrolling the area on 5:30 p.m. last Saturday noticed "a man exhibiting characteristics of an armed person," according to the Chicago Sun Times.
When officers attempted to question Augustus in the 2000 block of East 71st Street, the so-called "Confrontation" turned to a shooting. The suspect was rushed to the nearby Jackson Park Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Medical examiners have scheduled an autopsy on Sunday to confirm the cause of death.
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Gugliemi later posted on Twitter footage of the confrontation that led to Augustus' death, which was taken by a body cam. According to the police spokesman, a weapon was later recovered at the scene of the incident along with several magazines of ammunition. No officers were harmed during the shooting.
Residents have taken up the cause by taking to the streets chanting "no justice, no peace." Officers were pelted with rocks and bottles, and at least four people were arrested during the chaotic protests.
Police claimed that at least two of their squad cars were sabotaged by people slashing tires and jumping on the cars' bodies.
The slain suspect was known in the neighborhood as "Snoop," and by accounts, worked as a barber and was a popular figure in the part of the area, according to The Root. Augustus himself was not a documented gang member and had no recent arrests for that matter outside of misdemeanor counts of battery and marijuana possession more than 10 years ago.
