MEMPHIS, Tenn — Protesters are calling for change after a 17-year-old was shot by a U.S. Marshal in south Memphis Tuesday.
Agents arrested the teen and he’s accused of committing criminal actions that led to an officer-involved shooting, according to TBI. Authorities have admitted the person they were searching for, a fugitive murder suspect, was not the teen who was injured.
Protesters gathered at a MAPCO where the shooting took place. Frustrated demonstrators called for action by the city in the wake of another U.S.-marshal involved shooting.
“This is the same playbook that they laid out when unfortunately we lost Brandon Webber,” said activist Theryn Bond. “Literally it’s like the copy and pasted the story and changed the name.”
About 30 demonstrators gathered at East Alcy Road and Elvis Presley Boulevard. Some briefly walked the crosswalks as police blocked the road.
“Memphis should be upset,” said protester Antonio Cathey. “People should be angry that this happened.”
Several chanted “Black Lives Matter” and held signs with some saying “Cops Loot Lives” and “America is in Distress.”
“The problem is in this town is accountability,” commented Bond. “No one wants to be accountable when bad things happen.”
The teen who authorities say rammed officers’ cars was charged with six counts of aggravated assault, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, one count of theft and vandalism. Agents believed that the vehicle the teen was driving was linked to a fugitive murder suspect. The teen, who was shot in the arm, was later identified to not be the suspect.
“This time is was Darshaun Holliday, he lived he made it out,” said Bond. “Next time it could be me.”
Later in Wednesday’s protest, activists had a face to face dialogue with Memphis police. Activists are asking for Mayor Jim Strickland to remove Operation LeGend from Memphis, the name of the officer who shot the teen and for Strickland to amend the budget to defund the police.
“We’re asking who was the officer or officers who shot him. Yes he was in a stolen vehicle or driving a stolen vehicle, but does that give you a right to shoot him? And yet he was still the wrong person that you were looking for.”
TBI agents say they located an loaded handgun in the vehicle and that the car was stolen from Germantown. The teen is being housed in the juvenile detention center in Shelby County. Protesters say they will have a closed meeting on Sunday.