Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings, who served as the chief of police in Orlando, defended the officer who shot Ma’Khia Bryant, saying he “responded as he was trained to do” when the 16-year-old drew a knife on another person.
“You know, now everybody has the benefit of slowing the video down and seizing the perfect moment,” she said Sunday on CBS News’s Face the Nation. “The officer on the street does not have that ability. He or she has to make those split-second decisions, and they’re tough. But the limited information that I know in viewing the video, it appears that the officer responded as he was trained to do, with the main thought of preventing a tragedy and a loss of life of the person who was about to be assaulted.”
Bryant, a foster child, was shot on April 20 in Columbus, Ohio, after she lunged at a female individual in pink with a large blade, as seen in body camera footage released by police. The 16-year-old was taken to a local hospital and later pronounced dead. An investigation is being conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
POLICE RELEASE BODY CAMERA VIDEO OF OFFICER FATALLY SHOOTING TEENAGE GIRL ARMED WITH KNIFE IN OHIO
Demings, who said she worked with foster children in the past, said the shooting was a “sad moment.”
“Now, after every incident, we would have to go back and look at our policies and make sure that the policies met the moment,” she said. “But look, I worked as a social worker with foster care children. So it’s a — it’s a sad moment for me. But I also was a patrol officer who was out there on the street having to make those split-second decisions.”
Though many have viewed the shooting as justified, some have insisted that it was another instance of police misconduct. Black Lives Matter released a statement on the incident, which omitted several facts, saying “another Black life” was “stolen with no regard.”
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On Saturday, hundreds of protesters marched to the Ohio Statehouse wearing Crocs, a brand of shoe, in Bryant’s honor.
Similar demonstrations are brewing in North Carolina after Elizabeth City declared a state of emergency ahead of the release of body camera footage that will show the circumstances surrounding the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a black man who was pronounced dead after he was shot by police.
Calls to reform or defund law enforcement have been amplified in the wake of the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man who was shot by Brooklyn Center police, and the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of murdering George Floyd.
