Black man in Louisiana dies after being shot 11 times and tased by police UPDATE: Resulting protest draws conflicts with riot cops

J. Edward Moreno
The Hill
Sat, 22 Aug 2020 19:21 UTC

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A Black man in Lafayette, La., died Friday after reportedly being shot 11 times and tased by law enforcement, Louisiana State Police confirmed to The Hill.

The agency identified the man killed as Trayford Pellerin, 31, of Lafayette. A witness told the Daily Advertiser Pellerin appeared to be carrying a knife when he was tased and was walking away from police and toward a convenience store.

Video footage of the incident was posted to twitter early Saturday.

Six officers pointed guns at him and by the time he reached the door of the Shell gas station where he was shot nearly a dozen times.

"When I heard the gunshots, I couldn't hold my phone like I was first filming," witness Rickasha Montgomery told the Advertiser.

"I feel kind of scared about it. I'm traumatized. You're so used to hearing about this, but I never thought I would experience it."

Pellerin was taken to a local hospital where he eventually died. Louisiana State Police is reportedly investigating the shooting.

Comment: More footage of the incident:

From RT:

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Around a dozen shots can be heard in the video, which immediately went viral, sparking accusations of excessive use of force. Authorities argued that tasers were "ineffective" and failed to stop the suspect, and that he was still armed when he tried to enter the store with people inside.

The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave as the Louisiana State Police conducts an investigation, in coordination with local community leaders, while interim Police Chief Scott Morgan promised to "do whatever we can as far as transparency goes."

In the meantime, activists organized a vigil and protest at the scene of the shooting on Saturday, while the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana called the incident a "murder" and "brutal killing."

UPDATE: Riot cops face off with BLM protesters in Lafayette, Louisiana after police shooting of Trayford Pellerin

23 Aug, 2020 03:41 RT

Riot police officers have arrested several Black Lives Matter protesters blocking roads in Lafayette, Louisiana following a vigil for a man shot and killed by cops while resisting arrest and trying to "walk away."

Crowds of activists gathered on Saturday evening at the Shell gas station along Evangeline Thruway, where Trayford Pellerin, 31, was shot and killed Friday night.

A group of protesters demanding justice soon spilled onto the road, blocking it with a human chain, and declaring that "nobody gets past this line!"

Initially peaceful, some protesters reportedly threw bottles and rocks at police cars, and faced off with a line of riot cops.

Police declared the gathering "unlawful," making several arrests and using smoke grenades to disperse the remaining crowd, according to Acadiana Advocate reporter Katie Gagliano.

Pellerin was shot nearly a dozen times after Lafayette Police Department officers responded to a disturbance call about "a man with a knife" at a gas station around 8pm Friday, and later died in a hospital.

Denouncing the incident as yet another example of systemic racism, BLM activists and a local ACLU branch branded it a cold-blooded "murder," and accused police of escalating a "routine encounter" into a "deadly shooting spree."

While the investigation is ongoing, Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory was forced to address public anger in a late Saturday statement, insisting that the officers used deadly force against Pellerin only "when it became apparent the armed individual was attempting to enter a convenience store, threatening the lives of the customers and workers inside."

An armed individual was shot and killed by Lafayette police officers after an extended pursuit, numerous efforts to de-escalate the situation, and multiple tries to subdue the knife-wielding suspect through the use of tasers.

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