Community members in Seattle maintain rally, demand justice for Jaahnavi Kandula

By PTI

SEATTLE: Demanding justice for Indian pupil Jaahnavi Kandula and the resignation of two Seattle cops, greater than 200 individuals from totally different communities held a rally at an intersection the place she was struck and killed by a rushing police patrol automotive.

Kandula, 23, was struck by a police car pushed by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a road on January 23.

He was driving 74 mph (greater than 119 kmh) on the best way to a report of a drug overdose name.

In bodycam footage launched on Monday by the Seattle Police Department, Officer Daniel Auderer laughed concerning the lethal crash and dismissed any implication Dave is perhaps at fault or {that a} felony investigation was obligatory.

More than 200 individuals on Thursday took to the Seattle intersection the place Kandula was fatally struck by an officer’s cruiser in January, the Seattle Times newspaper reported.

They known as for accountability for the officer who killed her and for a police union chief’s feedback concerning the crash, which some described as “disgusting” and “abhorrent.”

Participants on the rally in South Lake Union known as for the resignation of Auderer and the officer who struck Kandula, Dave.

Speakers on the rally criticised the police system, saying it’s constructed on white supremacy, and the criminalising and undervaluing of the lives of Black and Indigenous individuals and different individuals of color, the report added.

Signs learn “Jail killer cops,” “Justice for Jaahnavi,” and “End police terror.”

People dwelling in close by flats got here to affix the group.

Seattle resident Rafael McPeek stated he hoped to ship a message that cops cannot get away with killing somebody whereas rushing by means of metropolis streets or making feedback questioning the worth of somebody’s life.

“It’s absolutely disgusting,” stated McPeek, a member of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which organised the rally.

Another rallygoer, Kyla Carrillo, expressed anger on the variety of months which have elapsed with out accountability for Kandula’s dying.

ALSO READ | Outrage in US over dying of Indian pupil; US govt assures immediate motion and investigation

Carillo stated she remembered attending a protest in January after Kandula was killed, including that she and others gathered will not cease till Kandula receives justice and might then relaxation in peace.

“I don’t understand how many times the Seattle Police Department can show us they don’t care about people’s lives,” she stated.

Auderer, the vp of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, reportedly on a cellphone name with Union President Mike Solan, seems to speak about what may occur if the sufferer’s household sued the division.

“Yeah, just write a check. USD 11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value,” Auderer stated through the name.

In response, Governor Jay Inslee stated on Thursday, “It’s hard to think of more hurtful things to say to magnify the scope of an already terrible tragedy than what is said in that video.”

“I was heartbroken. I was disgusted,” stated Joel Merkel, a co-chair with the Seattle Community Police Commission.

Kandula was set to graduate this coming December with a grasp’s diploma in info methods from the Seattle campus of Northeastern University.

Her household stated she was working towards supporting her mom in India.

India has taken up Kandula’s case with the US authorities in addition to with native officers in Washington state.

“Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling,” the Consulate General of India in San Francisco tweeted on Wednesday.

“We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC for a thorough investigation & action against those involved in this tragic case,” the mission stated.

The Consulate and the Embassy will proceed to intently observe up on this matter with all involved authorities, it added.

ALSO READ | Jaahnavi Kandula dying: AP CM writes to External Affairs Minister looking for assist with case

Kandula, 23, was struck by a police car pushed by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a road on January 23.

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