A Kenyan police officer will be charged with murder over the fatal shooting of a bystander during a protest against police brutality.
Prosecutors say thirty-two-year-old officer Klinzy Barasa Masinde shot and killed Boniface Kariuki, a mask vendor, at close range on June seventeenth in Nairobi. Kariuki was not part of the protest.
The Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed on social media that a murder charge has been approved. Masinde has appeared in court and will be remanded for a mental assessment before formal arraignment. He is due back in court on July twenty-eighth.
At least fifty people have died in recent anti-government protests in Kenya, which have turned increasingly violent.
The demonstration where Kariuki was killed followed the death of a teacher in police custody. Six people, including three police officers, have already been charged in that case.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto’s recent remarks suggesting that looters should be shot in the leg have drawn sharp criticism.
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