OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Around 2,000 people marched on one of Omaha’s busiest streets in a peaceful protest to remember a man who was shot and killed by a business owner during civil unrest downtown more than a week earlier.
Marchers gathered at 72nd and Dodge streets Sunday afternoon and marched east on Dodge for nearly 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to Memorial Park. The demonstration was held with permission and help from the city to shut down traffic on Dodge.
Speakers at the Black Lives Matter rally in the park remembered 22-year-old James “Juju” Scurlock, who was shot and killed during a scuffle outside a downtown Omaha bar late on May 30. The Douglas County prosecutor initially declined to charge the white bar owner, Jake Gardner, for the death of Scurlock, who is black. But the prosecutor later turned over the case to a special prosecutor for a grand jury review.
Scurlock’s shooting happened as protests and unrest roiled cities across the country over the May 25 death of George Floyd. Floyd, who was black and handcuffed, died after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air.
The Omaha shooting happened outside Gardner’s bar as he sought to ward off any theft or property damage. Police and prosecutors say Gardner acted in self-defense after Scurlock jumped on his back. Critics of the investigation say Scurlock was trying stop Gardner - who had already fired what officials called two warning shots from the gun - from hurting anyone.
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