Gambia Demands a 'Credible' Investigation Into the Police Killing of Diplomat’s Son, Momodou Lamin Sisay

Friday morning saw yet another Black man killed at the hands of police in the United States of America.

In a statement made on May 29, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stated that they had been called upon by the Georgia Police Department to investigate an officer's recent involvement in the shooting of a Black man in the town of Snellville, Georgia.

The Black man was identified on Tuesday as Momodou Lamin Sisay, the thirty-nine-year old son of former United Nations Diplomat, Lare Sisay.

According to the statement, at around 03:49 am, the police officer in question's attempt to stop the car was unsuccessful, resulting in a car chase. The investigating party said, "Officers approached the vehicle and gave verbal commands for the driver to show his hands. The driver did not comply… the driver pointed a handgun at the officers."

A standoff ensued, a SWAT team was called in, when the driver allegedly began to fire at them as well.

According to local reports, the deceased's father has said that he does not believe the police did enough to resolve the incident in a peaceful manner, and questions the claim that there was a firearm in his son's possession. In an interview with Gambian newspaper The Point, Sisay said of the incident, "We will do an independent autopsy and we want to get a private investigator to investigate the circumstances of his death and if necessary hire a lawyer to sue the Georgia state police. We're not going to let it go."

The Gambia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought out its embassy in Washington DC to "engage the relevant US authorities including the State Department to seek transparent, credible and objective investigation," it was revealed on Tuesday.

The murder of Sisay adds fuel to an already raging fire as people around the world take to the streets protesting police brutality and the unfair treatment of Black and African American individuals across the world following the police killing of George Floyd.