Photo: GoFundMe
(Minnesota)–Around 100 people gathered in Austin Thursday afternoon near the Law Enforcement Center to protest last week’s killing of Kokou Christopher Fiafonou by an Austin police officer.
Fiafonou was shot by Officer Zachary Gast in the parking lot of Kwik Trip on Dec. 23 following a 24-hour standoff that started on the day before.
The protesters were peaceful, but reflected anger and frustration by supporters of Fiafonou’s family, who say he was doing nothing wrong when he was shot.
Protesters, who at one point spilled onto the intersection of Main Street and Second Avenue Northeast and blocked traffic for a time, chanted “No Justice, no peace … prosecute the police.” The chant at one point was led by Fiafonou’s fiance, Dorothy Gales, who declined to be interviewed.
However, Michelle Gross, who is assisting the family and who operates Community United Against Police Brutality in Minneapolis, said that among the demands of the family is the releasing of any and all video surrounding the shooting. “If you’ve got nothing to hide, release the video,” she said. “If you did everything right, release everything.” Read more.
