AKRON (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered at a theater in Akron to remember the life of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man killed in a hail of police gunfire last month.
He was remembered as a shy, kind, thoughtful man with a quiet sense of humor. There were also comments at the funeral about the need for justice for Walker and other Black men and women killed by police.
Bishop Timothy Clarke, of the First Church of God in Columbus, preached about how Walker’s death, and the deaths of other men and women, cannot be normalized.
“We must not try to act as if this is all right,” Clarke said. “This is not all right. There’s nothing right about this. We should not be here, and Jayland should not be in that box.”
Mourners, some wearing “Black Lives Matter” and “Zero Threat, Zero Violence, Justice for Jayland” T-shirts, passed by Walker’s casket before the funeral.
Akron has seen daily protests city officials released body camera footage from the eight officers on July 3. Downtown Akron is under a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Akron police asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to handle the investigation into the shooting.
BCI’s findings will be turned over to the Summit County prosecutor’s office to present evidence to a grand jury to determine if any officers will be charged criminally.