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Lamin Sisay
Lamin Sisay was the son of a former UN diplomat. Photograph: Handout
Lamin Sisay was the son of a former UN diplomat. Photograph: Handout

The Gambia demands US investigation into police killing of citizen in Atlanta

This article is more than 3 years old

Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of events

The Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.

The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

The Gambian foreign ministry said on Tuesday it wants a “transparent, credible and objective investigation on the matter”.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) said police opened fire on Sisay after a car chase that ended with him firing a handgun at the officers, but that version of events has been rejected by family and friends, who have asked for eyewitnesses to come forward.

“Yet another police killing of a black man, yet another young life lost, yet another police report blaming the victim – the facts are out there somewhere,” wrote family friend Banka Manneh on Facebook.

Sisay’s father Lare, a former UN employee and Gambian diplomat, told Gambian news website Fatu Network that he is waiting for the results of an autopsy, but made clear his doubts of the official account about the escalation from a routine traffic stop to his son being shot multiple times.

Describing his son as “somebody who abhors violence”, he said the family are “not going to let it go” and are willing to sue the Georgia state police if necessary.

Writing on Facebook, Lare Sisay said his son was “a very pious and disciplined young man whose life was cut short brutally”.

A demonstration has been planned for 8 June outside the American embassy to protest the killing of Sisay and black Americans by police.

The spotlight on police violence in the wake of Floyd’s killing has also prompted Sudanese activists to demand justice in the case of Yassin Mohamed, 47, also in Georgia state.

Mohamed was shot by police earlier in May after throwing rocks at an officer, according to the GBI.

Their statement said they had contact several times with Mohamed in the 12 hours before his death and activists say he was in experiencing a mental health crisis.

“A mental health crisis should never be a death sentence. Rocks should never be met with bullets. Mr. Mohamed’s death sounds disturbingly similar to the police shootings of black men and women that regularly occur across our nation,” said Murtaza Khwaja, a director at the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

This article was amended on 4 June 2020 to correct the spelling of Yassin Mohamed.

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