AKRON, Ohio — Two months after Jayland Walker’s death an Akron organization said they refuse to give up the fight for justice.
The group Freedom BLOC (Black Led Organizing Collaborative) marched through the city’s streets Sunday, culminating the group’s “Justice for Jayland Week of Action.”
Walker was killed by Akron police on June 27 after the 25-year-old Black man led officers on a chase when police said they tried to pull Walker over for a traffic violation.
Officers said Walker shot at police during the car chase. Shortly after, they said Walker pulled his vehicle over, hopped out and started running.
During the foot chase police said they thought they saw Walker reaching for a gunshot that’s when eight officers opened fire, shooting Walker over 40 times, according to the police department.
Akron police later said Walker was unarmed when he was shot and killed, but that a gun was found in Walker’s vehicle.
“This was a grave and bloody injustice committed right here,” said Werner Lange, director of Ohio Peace Council, who attended Sunday’s march.
Freedom BLOC has hosted several rallies in Akron since Walker’s death, issuing a list with demands.
One demand is to create a civilian review board for Akron police.
“We need the police department to be accountable to the citizens that are served,” said Ray Greene, executive director of Freedom BLOC.
Another demand, one of the biggest, is to prosecute the officers involved in Walker’s death. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is looking into this deadly shooting.
“We’re going to continue to march, continue to protest, continue to put the pressure on until we get justice,” Greene said. “What we do know is justice is slow. But we don’t want to forget that we are fighting for justice.”
