Hundreds Protest After Police Shoot College Student Who Allegedly Advanced On Them With Kukri Knife

 Hundreds of protestors took to the streets to voice their anger and frustration over the shooting of a University of Massachusetts Boston student last week.

Angry and frustrated demonstrators gathered outside of Cambridge City Hall Monday in a rally organized by the Bangladesh Association of New England to voice their displeasure at the situation. Sayed Faisal, 20, was fatally shot Wednesday after the student allegedly advanced on police with a kukri sword, WCVB reported.

“Faisal needed help not bullets,” was the sentiment on some of the signs among the protestors looking for justice for a man, according to WCVB. “It’s so heartbreaking to hear about the sad news,” the organization stated on their Facebook page. “We need to bring justice for this young brother. Police brutality need to stop.”

Faisal reportedly jumped through his apartment window and began cutting himself on the broken glass, according to another report by WCVB. Surveillance video showed Faisal holding the kukri sword up to his neck before running shirtless down the street with police following close behind. The chase continued until Faisal stopped in a backyard next to a daycare where police again attempted to get him to give up the weapon. Police initially hit Faisal with a non-lethal “sponge round” before lethal force was used, the outlet reported.

In a statement released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Faisal’s parents remembered their son, “Prince,”  as a non-violent person who had never had a brush with law enforcement before. “We are completely devastated and in disbelief that our son is gone. Prince was the most wonderful, loving, caring, generous, supportive, and deeply family-oriented person,” the statement read.

“To Faisal’s family and friends, my heart breaks with you. Know that I hear you and your demands for accountability and change. I understand it feels as though the city you’ve called ‘home’ has failed you; insofar as I’m able to repair this break, please know I am committed to doing so,” Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said in a press release Monday.

The Cambridge City police Department echoed those sentiments by offering their condolences to Faisal’s family and loved ones. “Any time a life is lost in our community, it is tragic, so we are all mourning,” Cambridge police Commissioner Christine Elow stated, according to WCVB news.

An independent investigation into the shooting is underway, the results of which will be sent forth to the Middlesex District Attorney’s to determine if charges are warranted in the case. The process, the outlet stated, could take a year or more. Elow assured that the Cambridge Police Department would be cooperating with that investigation “100 percent”, WCVB reported. 

The officer who opened fire remains anonymous and has been put on paid administrative leave. The office has reportedly been with the department for seven years and has never been a subject of a citizen’s complaint, the outlet stated.