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Cops release footage of Dijon Kizzee, 29, picking up a loaded pistol before he was gunned down by police in hail of 19 bullets that led to violent BLM protests in LA

  The LA County Sheriff's Department has claimed black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, bent down to pick up a loaded pistol before he was gunn...

 The LA County Sheriff's Department has claimed black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, bent down to pick up a loaded pistol before he was gunned down by cops who fired 19 shots at him and allegedly left his handcuffed dead body in the street for hours.  

Cops released new details about the shooting death of Kizzee in a press conference Thursday including never-before-seen footage of the incident as well as video taken from Kizzee's cellphone in the days leading up to his death.   

Authorities said Kizzee died from multiple gunshot wounds but - more than two weeks on from the killing - his full autopsy is yet to be completed and released to the public.

It also emerged that the traffic violation officers initially tried to pull Kizzee over for was that he was riding a bicycle the wrong way down the street. 

Kizzee was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in the Westmont area of South Los Angeles back on August 31.  

The 29-year-old Lancaster man, who was visiting family in LA at the time, was riddled with bullets, with the attorney for his devastated family saying cops shot him 20 times in the back when he was unarmed.  

His death has sparked protests in LA calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism after what marks yet another incident where a black man has been killed by cops in recent months.  

The LA County Sheriff's Department has claimed black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, bent down to pick up a loaded pistol before he was gunned down by cops who fired 19 shots at him and allegedly handcuffed his dead body. Pictured newly released footage

The LA County Sheriff's Department has claimed black cyclist Dijon Kizzee, 29, bent down to pick up a loaded pistol before he was gunned down by cops who fired 19 shots at him and allegedly handcuffed his dead body. Pictured newly released footage

Cops released new details about the shooting death of Kizzee in a press conference Thursday including never-before-seen video of the incident (above) which they said shows Kizzee picking up the gun leading the officers to open fire

Cops released new details about the shooting death of Kizzee in a press conference Thursday including never-before-seen video of the incident (above) which they said shows Kizzee picking up the gun leading the officers to open fire

Sheriff gives update on Dijon Kizzee investigation
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LA County Sheriff's Captain Kent Wegener said Thursday Kizzee was in possession of a 9mm semiautomatic handgun loaded with 15 live rounds when the two deputies shot him dead. 

Wegener said Kizzee dropped the pistol during a struggle with one of the deputies, during which he punched the officer in the head.

He said Kizzee then bent over, picked it up and had the gun in his hand when the deputies opened fire. 

The gun had been reported stolen from a Las Vegas home back in February 2017, he said.


Kizzee was banned from owning or possessing a weapon at the time, due to a restraining order and his criminal record as a convicted felon, according to the sheriff's department.  

The cops released footage allegedly recovered from Kizzee's smartphone showing the 29-year-old with the same firearm in the days leading up to his death. 

In the cellphone footage, the handgun is seen tucked in what appears to be Kizzee's trousers.

Authorities said the serial number seen in the footage matches the one found at the scene.

No audio was released from the video because, when pressed, Wegener said it featured a 'rap song with the f-bomb and n-word'. 

Kizzee, 29, (pictured) was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in South Los Angeles Monday afternoon

Kizzee, 29, (pictured) was shot and killed by two cops while he was out riding his bike in South Los Angeles Monday afternoon

Wegener said the deputies had first tried to pull Kizzee over for a traffic violation at around 3:14 p.m. 

He confirmed the violation was simply that Kizzee was cycling on the 'wrong side of the street' - a detail cops had until now not divulged.  

Kizzee allegedly refused to stop and fled on his bike before he fell off and abandoned it, fleeing on foot while holding clothing in his hands. 

Newly-released footage shows Kizzee clutching clothing while running from the officers and the deputies returning to their car before trying to find him again.  

Wegener said the deputies then located Kizzee but were still unaware he was in possession of the pistol. 

Separate footage then shows Kizzee raising his hands in the air as the deputies approach him along the residential street where moments later he was shot. 

'Kizzee briefly raised his hands with a green towel in one hand and a red and black jacket in another as he moved away from the deputy,' said Wegener. 

When one of the deputies tried to detain him, a struggle broke out and Kizzee allegedly punched the officer's face. 

During the struggle, a pistol fell out of the clothing in Kizzee's hands to the ground between him and the deputy, Wegener said.  

Wegener said it was this moment the deputies 'drew their pistols as Kizzee stopped, bent over, reached back and picked up the pistol.'

LA County sheriff's Captain Kent Wegener said Thursday Kizzee was in possession of a 9mm semiautomatic handgun (pictured) loaded with 15 live rounds when the two deputies shot him

LA County sheriff's Captain Kent Wegener said Thursday Kizzee was in possession of a 9mm semiautomatic handgun (pictured) loaded with 15 live rounds when the two deputies shot him

The department played footage taken from Kizzee's smartphone in the days leading up to his death showing him armed with the same gun recovered from the scene

The department played footage taken from Kizzee's smartphone in the days leading up to his death showing him armed with the same gun recovered from the scene

Both officers opened fire on Kizzee striking him several times and sending the gun falling to the ground, Wegener said.

Wegener insisted the deputy 'doesn't arm themself until Kizzee drops the gun'. 

The sheriff's department also provided an enlarged version of the footage which they said shows Kizzee 'bending and reaching the pistol', picking it up and leading the deputies to open fire.

However the scene is partially blocked by fencing and the footage is grainy. 

No firearm can be made out in the footage and it is not clear whether or not Kizzee had a firearm in his hand at the time of the shooting.

It is also unclear from the footage whether Kizzee is bending to reach the gun or stumbling and falling to the ground in the footage. 

The footage also appears to show the black man turning and running away from the cops when the shots are fired. 

Kizzee was given emergency medical care on the scene but was pronounced dead, Wegener said.

Newly-released footage shows Kizzee clutching clothing while running from the officers and the deputies then returning to their car before trying to find him again

Newly-released footage shows Kizzee clutching clothing while running from the officers and the deputies then returning to their car before trying to find him again

Separate footage shows the moment he is gunned down by the officers

Separate footage shows the moment he is gunned down by the officers 

Kizzee raise his hands as the deputies approach him while holding a green towel in one hand and a red and black jacket in another before a struggle broke out

Kizzee raise his hands as the deputies approach him while holding a green towel in one hand and a red and black jacket in another before a struggle broke out

During the struggle, a pistol allegedly fell out of the clothing in Kizzee's hands to the ground between him and the deputy. Cops said it was this moment the deputies drew their pistols

During the struggle, a pistol allegedly fell out of the clothing in Kizzee's hands to the ground between him and the deputy. Cops said it was this moment the deputies drew their pistols

Shots ring out. Officials said Kizzee stopped, bent over, reached back and picked up the pistol however it is not clear in the grainy footage whether Kizzee is bending to reach the gun or falling to the ground in the footage

Shots ring out. Officials said Kizzee stopped, bent over, reached back and picked up the pistol however it is not clear in the grainy footage whether Kizzee is bending to reach the gun or falling to the ground in the footage

This contradicts previous footage on social media and witness reports that officers were slow to provide medical care - instead handcuffing his dead body - and that his body was left on the street for several hours.   

In that footage, Kizzee is lying motionless on the ground as four cops approach and handcuff him.

Bystanders are heard screaming 'how are you going to handcuff a dead man?' and 'Black Lives Matter'. 

One witness Timothy Ingram previously told LA Times Kizzee's body was left in the street until around 1 a.m.  

Ingram also said authorities refused to cover his body.     

The sheriff's office said Thursday the two cops fired 19 shots at the black man.

Kizzee's family have previously disputed this, with attorney Ben Crump - who also represents the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Jacob Blake - saying he was shot 20 times in the back.    

Wegener refused to answer a question on how many times Kizzee was shot saying the autopsy report has not been finalized or published, pending toxicology reports.

He insisted the length of time between was not unusual for an autopsy report to be completed. 

Wegener revealed the traffic violation officers initially tried to pull Kizzee over for was that he was riding his bicycle the wrong way down the street

Wegener revealed the traffic violation officers initially tried to pull Kizzee over for was that he was riding his bicycle the wrong way down the street

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva defended the actions of the deputies by starting the press conference with a round-up of crimes in the area Kizzee was shot

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva defended the actions of the deputies by starting the press conference with a round-up of crimes in the area Kizzee was shot

The post mortem confirmed the 29-year-old died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds and he was shot several times in the chest, both arms, once in the back and suffered a grazing wound to the head.   

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva defended the actions of the deputies by starting the press conference with a round-up of crimes in the area Kizzee was shot.  

Villanueva described the one-mile radius around the shooting area as a 'war zone' and said there has been 12 homicides in the vicinity between January and September this year. 

He went on to deny people of color face different treatment at the hands of law enforcement - despite the recent spate of cops killing black people across America.

'We're not engaged in systemic racism of any kind - we're trying to keep people alive,' he insisted. 

He said a criminal investigation would determine whether the officers violated use of force laws.  

Villanueva said the 'facts do not support' the reports online calling Kizzee's death an 'execution' and 'murder'. 

Kizzee's family say his death is the latest in a string of unwarranted and unlawful killings of black Americans by police
He is shown with a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend

Kizzee's family said his death is the latest in a string of unwarranted and unlawful killings of black Americans by police. He is shown (right) with a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend

Kizzee, dressed in a white tank-top and pants, is seen lying face down in the road by the right-rear tire of a silver pick-up truck after cops shot him in the street

Kizzee, dressed in a white tank-top and pants, is seen lying face down in the road by the right-rear tire of a silver pick-up truck after cops shot him in the street 

The two officers - who have not been named - are seen aiming their firearms at the downed suspect having just shot him

The two officers - who have not been named - are seen aiming their firearms at the downed suspect having just shot him

Doorbell camera captures fatal police shooting of Dijon Kizzee in LA
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Cops had given very few details about the incident prior to Thursday's press conference. 

The deputies were not wearing body cameras at the time and their identities have still not been released. 

The two officers who shot Kizzee have been removed from the field as the investigation continues and placed on desk duty.

Villanueva said Thursday one of the two was on training at the time of the incident. 

Several eyewitnesses have already cast doubt on the cops' version of events that Kizzee was armed.  

One eyewitness Latiera Irby, 29, told LA Times earlier in the month she saw 'nothing in [Kizzee's] hands' and that she saw him being shot after he had fallen to the ground. 

Irby said she was visiting her mom in the neighborhood when Kizzee ran up to her car and asked her to drive him away from the scene.  

'He said, "They're coming to get me; they're coming to get me,"' she said.

'I didn't know who he was running from, so I told him no.'

She then saw him get into a scuffle with one cop, before the cop backed away, she said.

That deputy and another then gunned down Kizzee after he fell over, she said. 

'He had nothing in his hands,' she added.

Deja, another witness, told AFP she didn't see Kizzee holding a gun and saw deputies handcuff him after the shooting - despite him being shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.

Another witness questioned the cops' claims Kizzee punched one of the officers prior to the shooting.  

LA County deputies shoot black man and cuff him allegedly when dead
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'They say the man punched the deputy, but I never saw that happen,' Alida Trejo, 52, told LA Times.

She said she heard up to 10 shots being fired at the black man.    

Protests have erupted in LA following Kizzee's death as people demand answers over the shooting and outrage builds over what marks yet another cop killing of a black man in America. 

Thousands have taken to the streets demanding justice and calling for an end to police brutality and racism since May following the 'murder' of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he passed out and died. 

Floyd's death reignited outrage over the death of Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot eight times while sleeping in her bed when three plain clothes officers performed a no-knock arrest warrant at her Louisville apartment on March 13. 

In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran away from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.  

Just over a week before Kizzee's death, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children on August 23, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.        

In early September, footage was released by the family of Daniel Prude, 41, showing cops in Rochester, New York, putting a spit hood over his face and pushing his face into the ground for two minutes until he passed out and died on March 23.  

The Monroe County medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide caused by 'complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint' but no charges have been brought against any of the cops. 

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