Relatives of Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake arrested while protesting Jayland Walker police killing
Demonstrators scuffled with officers Wednesday night in Akron, Ohio, while demanding justice for Jayland Walker, a Black man shot and killed during a police chase last week. Some protesters were arrested, including the family members of other officer-involved shooting victims.
Breonna Taylor's aunt, Bianca Austin, was at the Wednesday demonstration. Late that night, she told CBS News correspondent Elise Preston in a FaceTime interview that she had been in the city to protest the police killing of Walker two years after her own niece was killed in Kentucky during a police raid.
During the interview, Austin and an unidentified companion were detained by police for their alleged role in the protest. They could be heard asking what they did wrong. Austin was charged with riot, disorderly conduct and failure to disperse.
Jayland Walker died on June 27 after eight police officers fired more than 60 rounds at him following a vehicle and foot pursuit. Police said they were attempting to pull over the 25-year-old for a traffic and equipment violation when an officer reported a gunshot being fired from Walker's car.
Prior to Austin's Wednesday arrest, she said she witnessed Jacob Blake Sr. — the father of Jacob Blake Jr., who was left paralyzed from a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020 — being detained by police. She recorded the arrest as it unfolded on her cell phone camera.
The video shows officers appearing to struggle to handcuff Blake Sr. as he pleads with officers that he is handicapped. After several minutes on the ground, officers appeared to lift him onto a stretcher and push him towards an ambulance.
Austin said she followed the ambulance to the hospital. It is still unclear why Blake Sr. was hospitalized.
He was charged with riot, resisting arrest, failure to disperse and disorderly conduct. He and Austin are among numerous demonstrators who were arrested overnight on riot-related charges, according to the Akron Municipal Court.
The two were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning.