White officer faces murder charges for killing unarmed black man in Alabama
A white police officer in the US state of Alabama has been charged with shooting dead an unarmed African-American man, the latest example of police brutality that has provoked widespread protests.
The officer, 23-year-old Aaron Smith, was arrested and freed on a $150,000 bond, Montgomery county district attorney Daryl Bailey said during a press conference Wednesday
Bailey said investigators found "probable cause" that Smith broke the law when he fatally shot 58-year-old Gregory Gunn last Thursday in Montgomery, Alabama.
"I will do everything in my power to protect a police officer who is operating within the law," Bailey said. "I will also use every ounce of my power to prosecute a police officer who is acting outside of the law."
The case was the city’s first fatal police shooting in five years, and has sparked several protests around the area in the week since.
“My brother is not a violent person and never has been,” Kenneth Gunn told local television channel WBRC.
The latest police killing comes as law enforcement departments across the United States face increased scrutiny over allegations of excessive force against black people and other minority groups.
Police in the United States killed over 1,150 people in 2015, with the largest police departments disproportionately killing at least 321 African Americans, according to data compiled by an activist group that runs the Mapping Police Violence project.
The report also said charges against police officers who do use deadly force are very rare and that police use of lethal force is not correlated to violent crime rates.
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