El Cajon, California, sees fifth day of
protests over police shooting
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[October 03, 2016]
By Mike Blake
EL CAJON, Calif. (Reuters) - A crowd of
about 200 demonstrators marched through the center of El Cajon,
California, on Saturday in a fifth day of protests against the police
shooting of an unarmed black man in an encounter captured on video.
The latest march in the San Diego suburb came one day after police
released two videos of the shooting death on Tuesday of Ugandan-born
Alfred Olango, 38, at a strip mall.
Activists had called for the release of the footage.
The shooting follows a number of killings of black men and women in
encounters with police that have sparked protests across the United
States and calls for greater accountability of law enforcement in the
use of deadly force.
Police on Saturday kept their distance from marchers, who walked down
the middle of streets behind a banner that read, "#NotOneMore" and a
photo of Olango with angel wings.
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Two El Cajon police officers encountered Olango after receiving calls
about a "mentally unstable" man walking in traffic. Olango's mother
later told reporters she believes her son was having a mental breakdown
because of the recent death of a friend.
Police have said Olango ignored commands to take his hand out of his
pocket before pulling out an object later determined to be a vaping
device used to inhale nicotine. Olango assumed a "shooting stance" and
pointed the device, police said. No gun was found at the scene.
The two videos released on Friday, one from a camera mounted at a
drive-thru window and another one from the cell phone of a bystander,
show two officers confronting Olango in a parking lot before opening
fire.
Police have said one officer fired his gun and the other one used a
Taser.
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![](../images/100316pics/news_h11.jpg)
Demonstrators hold a march and rally to protest the fatal police
shooting of Ugandan immigrant Alfred Olango in El Cajon, California,
U.S., October 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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The protests in El Cajon over the last five days have mostly been
peaceful. But on Thursday, officers used pepper spray to disperse
the crowd and arrested two men for unlawful assembly after some
protesters threw rocks and bottles, stopped vehicles and broke car
windows.
On Saturday, police did not appear to make any arrests in the
protest and demonstrators marched without incident. A police
spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The two officers who fired the gun and the Taser at Olango have been
placed on leave as the El Cajon Police Department and the San Diego
County District Attorney's Office investigate the shooting.
Activists have demanded a federal probe.
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu
Nomiyama)
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reserved.]
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