Anchorage community demands justice after fatal police shooting of 16-year-old

Hundreds marched in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, to demand justice and reforms following the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old Easter Leafa in her family’s apartment on Aug. 13. Community leaders and Leafa’s family expressed grief and called for transparency, urging the release of unedited bodycam footage. Protesters carried signs reading “Justice for Easter,” “Don’t shoot” and “Say her name.” The march is one of several events honoring Leafa and pushing for change, following six police shootings in the city since May.

What happened: Police responded to Greenbriar Apartments after receiving a call from Leafa’s sister, who reported that Leafa had a seven-inch knife. Upon arrival, officers found nine people in the apartment and attempted to move them into a bedroom to isolate Leafa, who was on the back porch covered in a blanket. When officers opened the screen door and asked Leafa to show her hands, she stood up, removed the blanket and approached them with the knife at leg level, ignoring commands to drop it. Officer Alexander Roman, a seven-year veteran, then fired three rounds at Leafa while another officer deployed a less-lethal projectile. The department is still reviewing evidence.
Calls for justice: Leafa, who had recently moved to Anchorage from American Samoa, was set to begin her junior high school year. The community outrage has led Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Police Chief Sean Case to propose reforms aimed at reducing officer-involved shootings, including an external investigation into Leafa’s death, a third-party review of police department policies, the creation of a community advisory committee and an examination of all police shootings from the past 15 years. However, Darrell Evan, the police union president, has opposed these proposals, noting that he was “dismayed by what city leaders have said and implied over the past few days.”

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