Protesters gathered several days last week in Downtown Austin to remember Anthoneil Williams II, a Black teenager who was fatally shot by Austin Police Department officers in Northeast Austin on July 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As questions surrounding the shooting linger, the 17-year-old\u2019s father and friends joined protesters, demanding the Austin Police Department and the District Attorney\u2019s Office take action against the officers involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are tired of watching these officers never be held accountable,\u201d said Cluren Williams, a protest organizer and family liaison who is not related to the teenager\u2019s family. \u201cThey keep their jobs, they keep their benefits, and they can also continue to live amongst us with no repercussions. We\u2019re hoping that today it stops.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to APD<\/a>, officers responded to reports of a man, later identified as Williams, brandishing a firearm in the parking lot of 10110 Baden Ln. early that Friday morning. As law enforcement approached the teenager, who was pacing around a playground, the three officers \u2013 Alexis Cruz, Jake Pitcher, and Avery Zucchi \u2013 ordered Williams to keep his hands up. Williams then reached for an object in his waistband, leading to the officers firing their weapons.<\/p>\n The officers fired over 20 bullets at the teenager, according to body camera footage<\/a> released by the city. After discharging their initial rounds, the officers halted for a short moment, reloading their weapons before firing several more times.<\/p>\n Authorities later identified the object Williams reached for in his waistband as a water bottle. No weapons were found at the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a press conference days after the incident, Police Chief Lisa Davis explained that Williams allegedly placed the 911 call<\/a>, which drew police to the park. \u201cAll points are indicating that this was a suicide by police,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Details regarding the shooting are still emerging, though officials have suggested Williams was undergoing a mental health crisis. All three officers have since been placed on administrative leave as ongoing investigations into the shooting continue.<\/p>\n At Tuesday\u2019s protest, which started at Wooldridge Square Park, many within the crowd carried portraits of other victims of police violence, including Lawrence Parrish and Michael Ramos, who were both shot by Austin police officers in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Protesters voiced outrage at local officials, including Travis County District Attorney Jos\u00e9 Garza, as they marched to the Ronald Earle Building, which houses the D.A.\u2019s Office. The protesters made their way inside the lobby, pushing through a security checkpoint where they confronted a security guard for several tense minutes. Two deputies from the Travis County Sheriff\u2019s Office arrived, briefly clashing with a handful of protesters as they forced the crowd to leave the building.<\/p>\n No arrests were made, though several police cars followed at a distance as protesters continued marching through Downtown. The protest later concluded that evening at Wooldridge Square.<\/p>\n Joseph Hernandez, 16, was close friends with Williams and attended Tuesday\u2019s demonstration. When he first saw the online body camera footage, he wasn\u2019t aware that the individual in the video was his friend.<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart was broken for whoever that kid was,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThey need to be held accountable for what they did. No human deserves that treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Though preliminary findings from APD have indicated that the incident was potentially a suicide by police, protesters have pushed back on that narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rich Heyman, former UT lecturer and candidate for City Council District 9, said the police chief\u2019s comments on the shooting are an \u201cadmission that a young Black boy can expect to be killed by police officers. \u2026 That someone could rely on that kind of prediction is a sign of the problem \u2013 it\u2019s not an excuse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n