police killed this black woman during a traffic stop in illinois

Nearly 60 people gathered outside the Elgin Police Department yesterday demanding to know why 34-year-old Decynthia Clements was fatally shot by Elgin Police officer and why the video of the shooting has yet to be made available to the public. Clements, a black woman, was shot and killed by white police officer Lt. Christian Jensen. Some activists calling attention to the fact that Jensen is a former gang unit member, implying that Jensen was brutalized as if she were a menace to the public and why non-lethal measures weren’t taken instead.

Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said that Clements was stopped by police around 12:35 a.m. and that she initially refused to stop during the pullover and that she refused to get out of her SUV and, at some point, pulled out a knife. When officers realized the SUV was on fire (?), they were “forced” to remove Clements from her car….where they then killed her themselves.

“We believe the fire was intentionally set by her,” forcing the officers to act, Swoboda said.

Right. An autopsy conducted on Tuesday determined that Clements was shot multiple times, but Elgin police have declined to say how many times she was shot.The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide.