The 'Insecure' star joined a large demonstration, protesting the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, when he got shot by rubber bullets and hit by police batons.
- Jun 1, 2020
AceShowbiz - Kendrick Sampson offers a close up look at the injuries he sustained from the clash with police during a demonstration in Los Angeles. One day after claiming to being beaten by police batons and hit by rubber bullets while protesting the tragic death of George Floyd, the "Insecure" actor turned to Instagram to share photos of his wounds.
"Before you swipe - If you're squeamish - warning - these are SOME my wounds up close," wrote the 32-year-old actor on Sunday, May 31 in accompaniment of photos and video documenting his injuries. "The most obvious are from rubber bullets. They look gross but I was blessed to be shot directly from close range and not have much worse, ive posted some in my stories."
"These things HURT and are DANGEROUS," he went on sharing. "The dude was aiming for folks HEADS. Rubber bullets have killed folks and can cause permanent damage, brain damage, concussions etc." In the post, he additionally shared photos of the officers involved. "Swipe further to see some of the officers," he encouraged his followers.
"I can see some of their names but their badge numbers were on the back of their helmets. Purposeful," he explained. "ONE OF them removed his name. Others obscured theirs. I need the names and badge numbers. DM them and any other proof to @alwaysbewright. Let's do this. And together let's end this legacy of slave catching and #DefundPolice #DefendBlackLife."
Hours earlier, Sampson put out a clip of CNN coverage that documented the violent incident. "This is the clearest video I could find! You can see on my IG live they started beating my assistant, Mario (who showed up to stand with me - after I told him to go home ) in the white shirt to my right," he detailed.
"Then in this video, look closely, you can see them shoot him by ricocheting a rubber bullet off the ground then you can see me, process that shit, step in front of him and you can see several of them hit me multiple times with batons, then an officer aims straight at me, no ricochet, and shoots. And hits. That was one of 7 shots I took," he recounted. "They are excruciating. And they CAN kill."
"Go to my twitter, or my IG lives I have saved to my feed - you can see them beating, agitating and brutalizing several unarmed protesters after they started the aggression," Sampson continued. "Then you can see WOMEN, non-Black true ACCOMPLICES in the struggle- not allies - step in front to try to protect and deescalate. Unfortunately, they beat them with batons too."
"@mattmcgorry got hit. @jenniferlepps from @cpdaction got hit! THIS IS WHAT THEY DO. They were DESIGNED and FOUNDED for this," the "How to Get Away with Murder" actor expressed his anger. "@ericgarcetti you are a TRASH ASS MAYOR for encouraging this in your city and unwaveringly standing with them. #DEFUNDPOLICE #ProsecuteKillerCops #ProsecuteKillerKKKops."
Sampson joined the protest, organized by his Build Power initiative and Black Lives Matter, at Pan Pacific Park in West Hollywood on Saturday afternoon, May 30. "We did an event together, peaceful, powerful, talking about defunding the police, talking about building power in our communities and what that really looks like. That's what we were doing," he said in an Instagram Live video.
