Video has surfaced from the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, where one officer appears to say “Blue Lives Matter” to a crowd mourning the slain teen. The video was filmed on Facebook and republished on Twitter on Tuesday (April 20) after Columbus, Ohio police fatally shot Bryant.
In the clip, a crowd can be seen gathering in the street near police after the shooting. As two women are heard discussing the shooting, a male voice can be heard shouting, “Blue Lives Matter!” Another man with a camera then approaches the group of police officers and criticizes them for using the phrase.
“That’s crazy! That’s an insult!” the man yells at police. “Especially at this place right now.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely an insult,” the woman filming the video says. “That girl just got shot.”
The man holding a camera also references a flag with the phrase “Blue Lives Matter,” though it’s not shown on camera.
As reported by REVOLT, 16-year-old Bryant called 911 yesterday after a fight broke out at her foster home. According to her aunt, Bryant armed herself with a knife for self-defense. When police showed up, body camera footage shows, Bryant was holding a knife up to a woman, though her aunt maintains that she dropped the knife before police began shooting.
It’s believed that one officer fired four to five shots at Bryant, though that officer has not been identified by the police department. Interim Columbus Police Chief Mike Woods did say on Tuesday that the involved officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a state-led investigation.
Community members and Bryant’s friends and family gathered at the site of the shooting last night to demand justice. Paula Bryant, the teen’s mother, remembered her to 10TV reporter Lacey Crisp as “an honor roll student and a sweet child.”
See video from after the shooting on Twitter below.