WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A large group of people are marching and protesting Tuesday night in response to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) releasing its officer’s body-worn camera footage Monday which shows the fatal shooting of Justin Robinson.
The protest is happening in Southeast D.C. It started outside the MPD 7th District Headquarters before moving towards the McDonald’s where an officer fatally shot Robinson, 26, in his car.
“No justice. No peace,” the protesters could be heard chanting. “I’m asleep. Don’t shoot.”
MPD officers lined the perimeter and closed off a couple of blocks in the area for the protest. An MPD helicopter was also flying overhead monitoring it.
One protester told DC News Now that the group is peacefully protesting because they want answers.
“Tonight we’re just protesting for the murder of Justin. We just want justice for him,” she said. “We need answers.”
She said she watched the body-worn camera footage and was “startled.”
“I wasn’t actually ready to see what I seen, but actions need to be taken care of immediately because we don’t want the whole city to wind up in an uproar,” the protester told DC News Now. “We’re here for peace.”
The body-worn camera footage was released Monday evening which detailed the moments leading up to, during and instantly after Robinson’s death.
Officers had responded to the McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue, SE, shortly after 5 a.m. on Sept. 1 after receiving a call about a car crashing into the building.
There, officers saw that Robinson had a gun and they called for backup. They gave him verbal commands to roll down his car window and drop his gun. That’s when officers shot him multiple times, killing him.
MPD Police Chief, Pamela Smith, said in a news conference that Robinson had grabbed an officer’s gun causing them to open fire on him.
The two MPD officers involved in the shooting have been put on administrative leave, per MPD policy.
