Protests as Bangladeshi youth, ‘armed with knife’, shot dead by police in US

Bangladeshi expatriates organise protest against the death of Sayed Faisal, a 20-year-old student of the University of Massachusetts Amherst

A young man from an expatriate Bangladeshi community in the US has been gunned down by police at the city of Cambridge in Massachusetts.

The Bangladesh Association of New England organised protests outside Cambridge City Hall on Thursday, condemning the “brutal killing” of 20-year-old Sayed Faisal, a student of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

They described the death of Faisal, the only child of his family, as a “racist incident by white police officers”. “This is not acceptable in any meaning,” the association said in a Facebook post.

It said members of the association would meet with Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqi to look for an explanation.

“We need to bring justice for this young brother. Police brutality needs to stop.”

Cambridge Police said in a statement police officers rushed to Cambridgesport on Wednesday afternoon after a resident reported a man armed with a sharp weapon, later identified as a kukri knife, jumped out of a window.

The caller said that he appeared to be cutting himself with both the weapon, the kukri knife and broken window glass, according to the statement.

Officers attempted to verbally engage with the bleeding man after a foot chase from an alley behind a Sidney Street building to Chestnut Street around 1:15pm, requesting that he put the knife down. 

The man reportedly moved towards the officers while still in possession of the weapon.

An officer discharged a less-than-lethal sponge round in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. 

“That round was unsuccessful in stopping Faisal. He continued to advance towards officers in possession of the weapon. One officer discharged a department-issued firearm and struck Faisal. He was immediately rendered medical aid on the scene by officers until EMS arrived. Faisal was  transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he later died,” police said.

Investigators are in the very early stages of this investigation, which is being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney's Office and the Cambridge Police.

The Cambridge Police urged the members of the public with any information or video of this incident to contact the law enforcement.

Citing Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow, CBS Boston reported the officers tried several times to engage Faisal verbally unsuccessfully. "We tried several times to deescalate the situation." 

The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave.