Protest in the Offing in Gambia over US Police Killing of Gambian National

A leading human rights activist in The Gambia has notified the public of their plan to stage a peaceful protest over the killing of a Gambian national Momodou Lamin Sisay who was reportedly shot by the police in Georgia, United States last night.

The WSTV 2 Atlanta, reported on Saturday that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called to investigate a police shooting involving the Snellville police department and the Gwinnett County police department that left one person dead.

The shooting happened on Temple Johnson Road near Pate Road in Snellville.

The news site stated that the authorities said it started off as a traffic stop around 4 a.m. and then turned into a chase.

“The driver of the vehicle took off at full-speed and refused to stop,” Snellville police said. “Officers attempted a PIT maneuver on the vehicle, took the vehicle off the roadway.”

The vehicle crashed into the tree line on Temple Johnson Road. Once the vehicle came to a stop, officers approached the car and gave the driver commands but he refused to comply.

“The subject produced a handgun and began firing at the officers.

There was an exchange of gunfire,” Snellville police said.

Snellville police called in a SWAT team from Gwinnett County to assist.

“At one point he lifted up his firearm and pointed it at our officers,” Cpl. Michele Pihera with Gwinnett County Police Department said.

“One of our officers assigned to the SWAT team fired one round.”

Pihera said right now, they don’t know if that round hit the suspect, but he was later found dead in the car.

Police said agents with the GBI are on the scene going through the evidence.

However, a Gambia activist based in the United States, Banka Manneh who identified the victim as Momodou Lamin Sisay says they’re working on acquiring recorded videos to ascertain the police claim. Sisay is said to be the son of Lare Sisay, a UN diplomat who hailed from Kudang, a village in the Central River Region.

“We are still trying to piece together the little pieces of information trickling in regarding the alleged shootout as reported by the Police. We know it was a late-night incident but still holding out hope that some passers-by recorded the proceedings just like that of George Floyd in Minnesota,” he wrote on Facebook.

In his long piece posted on Facebook under the heading ‘US police brutality has arrived on Gambians shores, Madi Jobarteh challenged the US police to release the videos recorded during the shootout as claimed.

“We are deeply saddened at the news of the shooting to death of a Gambian youth Momodou Lamin Sisay today by the US Police even as we continue to grieve the senseless, deliberate and racist murder of George Floyd by the same US Police.

“As usual the US Police has come up with their narrative that they came under fire from Momodou and so in the exchange our boy was killed. False! I reject this narrative 100% which is nothing but the same typical pattern of fabrications that the US Police are notorious for spreading anytime they kill Africans,” said Madi.

He challenged The Gambia government to make it clear to the US government the country’s uncompromising stance for justice for Momodou and George Floyd and all those victims of US Police Brutality.

“Let our Government make it clear to the US Government’s representative in Banjul that we will not tolerate Gambians and African Americans being killed by the US Police with impunity.”

He stated that the government has a duty to defend Gambian-Americans including those who were descendants of the enslaved such as Kinta Kinteh and Olaudah Equiano and others.

“We have a duty to stand for them! Finally, be informed that there are efforts being planned right now to stage a peaceful protest against US police brutality against blacks in America in front of the US Embassy on Kairaba Avenue.”