Pennsylvania Sending Hundreds Of National Guard To Philadelphia Amid Unrest - Spokesperson

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) Several hundred members of the Pennsylvania National Guard are being deployed to the city of Philadelphia to help local law enforcement quell civil unrest that sparked after police fatally shot a Black man, Walter Wallace Jr., Lt. Col. Keith Hickox said in a statement.

"At the direction of Governor Wolf, and PEMA, the Pennsylvania National Guard is mobilizing several hundred members in support of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management and assist local agencies in protecting life, property and the right to peacefully assemble and protest," Hickox said on Tuesday as quoted by local television station FOX 29.

Large riots broke out in Philadelphia after a video went viral on Monday that showed Wallace, 27, being fatally shot by two police officers after he did not obey orders to back away and drop a knife.

A lawyer representing Wallace's family said he had a bipolar disorder.

Issues of racial injustice and police brutality have sparked mass protests and riots throughout the the United States this year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis during an arrest.