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New clashes in Philadelphia after police kill Black man

By AFP
October 29, 2020

NEW YORK: Hundreds of people demonstrated in Philadelphia late Tuesday, with looting and violence breaking out in a second night of unrest after the latest police shooting of a Black man in the US. The police department warned on Twitter that “a large crowd” of around 1,000 people was looting businesses in the area of Castor and Aramingo, advising citizens to “avoid the area.

Footage from a news helicopter appeared to show people breaking into and looting a Foot Locker store and another business. An AFP reporter at a different location, in West Philadelphia where another crowd of an estimated 1,000 people had gathered, saw police armed with batons clashing violently with several dozen protesters.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf´s office announced the deployment of several hundred National Guard troops to the city “to protect the right to peacefully assemble and protest while keeping people safe.

In a statement released early Wednesday the White House said it “stands ready, upon request, to deploy any and all Federal resources to end these riots. The fresh unrest came a day after the death of 27-year-old Walter Wallace, whose family said he suffered mental health issues.