Chris Kaba: Rapper Stormzy speaks at Westminster protest against police killing

Hundreds of people descended on Westminster to protest the police killing of Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by an armed officer in south London last week.

Demonstrators marched through the streets on Saturday (September 10) with banners displaying the Black Lives Matter slogan ‘no justice, no peace’ as well as ‘Justice for Chris’, ‘Abolish the Met’ and ‘The Met are murderers.’

It came as the police watchdog announced the officer is now subject to a homicide investigation, and the Met says it continues to fully cooperate with the inquiries.

While Mr Kaba’s family and south London MPs have called for a full suspension of the officer in question.

The march was led by leading activist Marvina Newton, who founded BLM Leeds and the Kill the Bill movement.

Brit award-winning rapper Stormzy, 29, joined the demonstration to protest against the killing of the 24-year-old, from Wembley - a rapper himself who had the stage name Madix.

According to Sky News, speaking at the march, the Vossi Bop singer said: "Chris has a mother, he has a family, he has brothers, he has friends, people who knew him in real life, who for them, it’s unbearable.

"Everyone here today, I would encourage everyone to have stamina.

"And I know it’s a very difficult thing to say… But when these people do these things, they get away with it, because what happens is we do this once, we get tired, we tweet, we get tired, we do it for a week, we do it for two weeks, we do it for a month, and they know we get tired.

“What they’ve done is they’ve killed someone. We can’t sugar coat it.”

Mr Kaba, a fiancee and soon to be father, with an architecture apprenticeship, was also nominated for a MOBO (Music of Black Origin) award, which Stormzy has won six times.

The rally began in Parliament Square and ended up outside the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters at New Scotland Yard.

Demonstrators chanted “who are the murderers? Police are the murderers”.

Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced on Friday (September 9) it was launching a homicide investigation into Mr Kaba’s death.

The watchdog said its decision followed a review of evidence gathered since the shooting in Streatham Hill.

A spokesperson said: “Mr Kaba died after a single shot was fired by an Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer from the specialist firearms command while police attempted to stop and contain the vehicle he was driving.

“This followed the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera which indicated the vehicle was linked to a firearms incident in previous days.

“The vehicle Mr Kaba was driving was not registered to him.”

They added: “Our investigation team is continuing to gather and review a large amount of evidence.

“However as this is now a criminal investigation, we are limited in what further information we can provide.

“The launch of a criminal investigation does not mean criminal charges will necessarily follow.

“We have notified Mr Kaba’s family of this latest development.

And they continued: “We continue to ask that people avoid speculating about this incident out of respect for Mr Kaba’s family and for everyone else affected.”

His family have called for the officer responsible to be suspended immediately.

While south London MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Streatham, and Harriet Harman, Camberwell and Peckham, said the fact the officer was still working was “incomprehensible”.

They said: “This is a matter which could not be more serious.”

They added: “A young man has lost his life and our sympathies are with his parents and his family.

“It is incomprehensible that the officer who killed Chris Kaba is not suspended.

“The family, the local community and we as MPs want to see a swift response in recognition of the utmost seriousness of this.

“Chris’ death was on Monday, it is now Sunday and the officer has yet to be suspended.”

And they continued: “We are calling on the Met to suspend the officer today.

“Even moving him out of firearms duties or into back-room duties would not be sufficient in view of the seriousness of this matter.

“It must be suspension and it must be now.”

Met assistant commissioner Amanda Pearson said: “The IOPC have announced that a firearms officer is now subject to a homicide investigation.

She added: “My thoughts and sympathies remain with Mr Kaba’s friends and family with this news.

“I also know how concerned our communities are and how they will also be affected by this significant update.

“We share their concern.

“The Met is co-operating fully as the IOPC works to independently establish the full circumstances surrounding the shooting.”

She said the officer concerned was not currently on operational duties due to the formal post-incident process, and a senior officer will now carefully consider their status.

AC Pearson added: “I absolutely understand that this shooting is a matter of grave concern, particularly for our black communities.

“I also know what a difficult and often dangerous job firearms officers in particular do every day to try to protect the public.”

And she continued: “I don’t underestimate the impact on them of this development.

“I’d urge the public to allow the IOPC the time and space needed to progress the investigation.”

A GoFundMe page supporting the Kaba family and the #JusticeforChris campaign has raised more than £9,500 of a £50,000 goal.