The US city of Philadelphia has been put under night-time curfew again amid ongoing protests over the fatal police shooting of an African-American man.
On Friday, the curfew was imposed the second time this week and National Guard troops were deployed Philadelphia after days of unrest following the police killing of 27-year-old Walter Wallace, which was captured on video posted to social media.
The citywide curfew will be in effect from 9 pm to 6 am, according to a statement posted by the city administration on Twitter.
“During this time, people may leave their homes only to go to work, seek medical or emergency assistance, or drop off a mail-in ballot,” it said.
Mayor Jim Kenney said that the National Guard troops will be sent to “critical government buildings or other infrastructure and may be sent to other key areas like commercial corridors”.
The demonstrations began on Monday after Wallace was killed by two officers who claimed he was approaching them with a knife.
Police said he was armed with a knife, when they were trying to arrest him.
After Wallace was shot, he fell to the ground, and said one of the officers drove him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he announced dead.
A video posted on social media, shows two officers pointing their guns at Wallace as he walked in the street and around a car.
He walks toward the officers as they backed away from him in the street, guns still aimed at him.
“Put the knife down, put the knife down,” one officer can be heard saying.
The victim’s family said he was suffering from mental health problems. Since then, more than 200 people have been arrested, and a number of officers have reportedly been injured.
Some businesses have said they have been looted and vandalized during the rallies.
Police-involved shootings and killings of black men have recently led to mass protests and violent clashes in major cities across the US, including Portland, Oregon, for the killing of African-American, George Floyd.
Floyd was killed at the hands of a white police officer in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
His death sparked protests across the country, but in Portland, anti-racism protesters remained on the streets practically every night for several months, and prompted President Donald Trump to deploy his federal agents to crackdown on demonstrators.
Source: Agenceis
