Kenyan police officer kills innocent vendor during peaceful protest

A Kenyan police officer has been arrested after shooting an unarmed vendor selling face masks during protests in Nairobi on Tuesday, according to a police spokesperson.

The demonstrations erupted following the death of a blogger while in police custody. Earlier in the day, a disturbing video shared by Citizen Television on its X account showed two officers repeatedly hitting a man on the head. As the man attempted to walk away, one of the officers shot him with a long-barrelled firearm.

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The man collapsed to the ground as onlookers cried out, “You’ve killed him.”

Another video, published on the Nation newspaper’s website, showed a witness claiming the victim had been selling face masks and was not part of the protest.

A Reuters reporter at the scene saw a man lying motionless, bleeding heavily from the head, with a packet of face masks still clutched in his hand.

It remains unclear whether he was the same individual referred to in the official police statement.

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Muchiri Nyaga, Police spokesperson, confirmed that an officer who shot a civilian with an anti-riot gun has been arrested.

“In response to the incident, the Inspector-General of the National Police Service ordered the immediate arrest and court appearance of the officer involved,” Nyaga said in a statement.

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The shooting comes amid widespread protests in Nairobi, Mombasa and other towns, sparked by public anger over the death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang while in police custody. His death has reignited long-standing concerns about extrajudicial killings by security forces.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, a state-funded body, said it had documented 21 other injuries during the demonstrations, including gunshot wounds, head injuries, whip marks, blunt-force trauma, and asthma attacks triggered by teargas exposure. These cases were reported in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties