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Another Black trans woman has been killed by cops—this time in St. Louis, Mo., after allegedly slashing a police officer during their response to a harassment call.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kiwi Herring was shot and killed shortly after the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to an “ongoing dispute” between Herring and neighbors. A Facebook post shared by a woman named Katherine Ann, who lives a few blocks from Herring’s home, says Herring was “taunted by people who live to hate queer folk” and police were called after “extended harassment” by her neighbor.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were reportedly met with a stabbing victim who directed them to the next door apartment. Interim Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole claims Herring had a knife when officers arrived, “slashing” at the cops and “slicing the one officer on the arm.” The injured officer and his partner then reportedly fired their guns, killing Herring after multiple shots. Cops say there was a child around “2 or 3 years” old on the scene. The child was reportedly unharmed.
Herring’s relative, Crevonda Nance, who is also a transgender woman, said she had just spoken to Herring about harassment they both faced since moving to their St. Louis neighborhood years ago. According to Nance, Herring often asked her: “Why can’t people judge me for what I am or what I do instead of what I look like or what they think I should look like?”
A candlelight vigil was held at the scene of the shooting on Tuesday night, where dozens gathered in response to the death of Herring at the hands of St. Louis police. On Wednesday night, following another candlelight vigil, a car plowed through a crowd of activists protesting Herring’s death. According to The New York Times, protestors made there way from the vigil to an intersection in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis before being “slowly approached” by a vehicle. “He then began to drive forward, slowly hitting people,” Keith Rose said in a Facebook post. “It was only once he was already hitting people and increasing his speed that people began to hit his car. He continued to drive faster, deeper into the crowd, turning to his left as he went.”
A video shared on Facebook (above) shows the car accelerating into the crowd around the 15:00 mark, sparking a scene of chaos and injuring at least three protestors, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The driver, who protesters say initiated a confrontation, was arrested about a block away from the scene.
This story was updated on Thursday, August 24, 2017 at 3:45 p.m. EST.
