On Wednesday, religious leaders and local advocates in Savannah, Georgia, called for the resignation of the police chief following the fatal shooting of a Black man by the police.
The officer-involved killing of Saudi Arai Lee, 31, is undergoing a federal investigation, but the public wants an investigation into the other officer-involved shootings in the area.
Lee was walking around his neighborhood on Friday, June 24, when officers spotted him, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. When they approached him, he followed the standard protocol for dealing with the police. Lee showed his wallet, the weapons permit in it, and also lifted his shirt to remove a weapon from its holster.
It’s unclear what happened next or why they approached him in the first place, but police say a short chase ensued. During the chase, Lee was shot by a white Savannah Police Officer Ernest Ferguson. He was declared dead at the hospital.
“Family, after family are crying because of sons or their daughters, shot down by this police department and it must stop,” Elder James Johnson, founder of the activist group Racial Justice Network, said at a news conference Wednesday.
“I don’t know if it’s the training or a fear of a Black man, but seems like they shoot and ask questions later, and we cannot and will not tolerate this,” he said.
Johnson stated that there will be numerous protests outside the police department to demand that Police Chief Roy Minter resign because he has not done a good job training his officers. The same could be said for numerous police departments across the United States.
Ernest Ferguson joined the Georgia Police Department in March 2021 and had just completed his officer patrol training eight months ago, according to the department’s Facebook page. According to the Savannah Morning News, he has been placed on administrative leave since the incident.
A police spokeswoman told AP News that the department is awaiting the results of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s federal investigation as well as another investigation by the Internal Affairs Divisions.