OAKWOOD VILLAGE, Ohio — Religious leaders across Northeast Ohio gathered at the Mt. Zion Church in Oakwood Village for an 11:30 a.m. press conference today “to call for a full investigation of police and proper policy review regarding the shooting of Jayland Walker.”
“This group of highly influential ministers will be asking for a national review to stop certain kinds of interventions by police in the nation and especially Ohio,” according to a press release from the United Pastors in Mission of Greater Cleveland (UPM),that hosted the press conference.
Their press conference comes a few days after the Akron Police Department released body camera footage of the incident in which Walker was shot and killed by eight officers following a chase last week.
At the press conference, the Walker family's attorney Bobby DiCello spoke as well.
"The invitation I have to ask yourself is 'why do we have these laws' and the answer is because we value human life in this country," said DiCello."It is what makes America special and makes America the place to be. We have to live up to the values that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy invited us to pursue."
The full press conference can be watched in the media player below.
The following clergy members were in attendance at the press conference:
- Rev. Dr. Larry L. Macon, Sr.: President of UPM and Pastor Mt. Zion Oakwood Village
- Dr. Tony Minor: Director of Advocacy Lutheran Ministry, Faith Assembly Church Pastor
- Rev. Dr. Ken Chalker: Pastor of University Circle United Methodist Church
- Bishop Omar Medina: Westside Latino Community Minister
- Pastor C.J. Matthews: Pastor of Mt. Sinai Ministries
- Rev. Dr. Larry Harris: President of the Mt. Pleasant Churches
- Bishop Gerald Mirbel: Pastor of Painesville Church
- Rev. Larry Harris: Chairman of UPM, Pastor of Mt. Olive
- Rev. Dr. Rebecca Stitt: St. Peter AMEZ Church
PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE JAYLAND WALKER SHOOTING:
- RELATED: Report: Tear gas used during Jayland Walker protest outside Summit County Jail in Akron
- RELATED: Akron officials release new details and bodycam footage from deadly police shooting of Jayland Walker
- RELATED: 3News Investigates: Jayland Walker's final days a tale of contradiction
- RELATED: 'We will get justice for Jayland Walker,' family attorneys pledge after Akron police release bodycam footage of fatal shooting
- RELATED: President Joe Biden says U.S. Justice Department is monitoring investigation into Jayland Walker's death