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Met officer cleared of Chris Kaba’s murder

22 October 2024113 views0

A British police officer was cleared of murdering an unarmed Black man he shot dead in London two years ago. He was acquitted by a jury after a three-week trial, and his suspension will be immediately lifted.

Martyn Blake pleaded not guilty to the murder of Chris Kaba, who died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Blake shot Kaba through the windshield after he attempted to drive his car, which had been connected to a reported shooting the night before.

The head of London’s Met police, Mark Rowley, said, “Any fatal use of force understandably prompts huge concern among communities, particularly in Black communities where trust in policing is low. There remains much for us to do to strengthen confidence in our service.”

A 2023 independent review into the force found it was “institutionally racist”, misogynistic and homophobic.

Kaba’s family said in a statement issued by the charity Inquest that they were left with “the deep pain of injustice adding to the unbearable sorrow we have felt since Chris was killed.”

“We know that Chris’ death is not an isolated case but part of systemic racism and stereotyping that equates Black men with dangerousness,” Inquest’s director Deborah Coles said.

Right-wing papers sided with the Met police and the verdict, opting to run headlines that emphasised (if not exaggerated) Kaba’s complex criminal past, in turn implying that the unjust manner in which he was shot and killed doesn’t matter. Kaba’s family have consistently claimed that Kaba was trying to turn his life around – and left-wing papers were more sympathetic about his death, highlighting the institutional problem with racism in the Met force and the social conditions that cause young people in London to fall into a life of crime.