Protests after LA police kill black man over altercation

Protests were planned in Los Angeles later Tuesday following the fatal shooting by Los Angeles sheriff's deputies of a black man after a violent altercation.

The victim, identified as 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee, 29, was riding his bicycle Monday afternoon in a south Los Angeles neighborhood when deputies tried to stop him for a code violation, according to the sheriff's department. It did not specify the nature of the violation.

Kizzee fled on foot and when deputies caught up to him, he punched one of them in the face while dropping a bundle of clothing he was carrying, authorities said.

"The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semiautomatic handgun, at which time a deputy-involved shooting occurred," Lieutenant Brandon Dean, of the LA County Sheriff's Department, told reporters.

Deja, a woman who witnessed the shooting told AFP that she yelled "don't shoot him, don't shoot him" as the deputies tried to stop Kizzee, who lived in her neighborhood.

"They were trying to grab and take his stuff away from him and then finally when it failed, he turned around to run and they tased him in the back of his leg," Deja, who would only give her first name, said. "He turned around and then they shot him."

Deja said deputies handcuffed Kizzee after the shooting. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Several hours after the shooting, about 100 people gathered at the scene, many of them carrying signs that said "Black Lives Matter" and chanting "Say his name" or "No justice, no peace."

Another protest was planned Tuesday afternoon with the local chapter of Black Lives Matter saying in a tweet "we need all hands on deck. "

The shooting came as protests against police violence and racism have roiled the country in recent months following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Last week, police in Kenosha, Wisconsin also shot a black man -- Jacob Blake -- in the back in front of his three young sons and left him paralyzed following an altercation. 

The shooting prompted demonstrations in several cities and led to violent clashes in Kenosha that left two people dead.

President Donald Trump visited the city on Tuesday despite pleas to stay away and claims he is dangerously fanning tensions as a reelection ploy.