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Friday, June 14, 2019

By Jim Kouri

Close to three-dozen Memphis, Tennessee, police officers were injured Wednesday night in mob violence that erupted after a black Memphis man wanted on an outstanding federal warrant was shot by federal deputy marshals.

Protesters threw rocks at police and smashed the windows of police cars and a nearby fire station during the hours-long violence perpetrated by black residents angered by the actions of the U.S. Marshals Service, the agency that usually enforces arrest warrants or hunts for wanted felons.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Thursday morning that in addition to officers and deputies injured, two journalists were also injured during the melee, according to the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Six of the injured cops were transported to an area hospital.

“Let me be clear — the aggression shown toward our officers and deputies tonight was unwarranted,” the Democratic mayor said. He also praised the conduct of Memphis police supervisors and officers for “a job well done.”

“I was proud of our first responders. I’m impressed by their professionalism and incredible restraint as they endured concrete rocks being thrown at them and people spitting at them,” the mayor said.

The incident began in the Frayser community of Memphis on Wednesday evening at about 7 p.m. when a man wanted on a felony warrant tried to ram vehicles of the regional U.S. Marshal’s Service fugitive task force after authorities tried to arrest him, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Keli McAlister said during a press briefing.

McAlister said the suspect exited the vehicle with a weapon. “The [deputy marshals] fired, striking and killing the individual,” McAlister said, adding no officers were injured during the interaction between law enforcement and the armed suspect.

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Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer told reporters that the slain suspect’s name is Brandon Webber.

Originally, Memphis police officers were on the scene as back-up for the U.S. deputy marshals, but eventually they became the target of a crowd that had gathered and threw projectiles such as rocks, empty bottles and cans at them.

Three people were arrested in the chaos that followed. Police said what they called “a chemical agent” was used to disperse the crowd.

Brandon Webber was shot and killed while resisting an arrest by U.S. Marshal’s deputies on Wednesday.

Memphis police on their Twitter page denied they were not involved in the killing of Webber. “I need [residents] to stay calm,” Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings said. “If your home was vandalized or you were harmed, we need you to call police.”