AKRON, Ohio – Representatives for the family of Jayland Walker announced a community rally on Tuesday and a funeral on Wednesday for the 25-year-old man shot dead by Akron police, and they also condemned violence against protesters by police .

You can watch the briefing in the player below:

Jayland Walker Family Representatives Announce Community Gathering, Funeral; condemn the violence in the city

Unit rally and funeral service for Walker

Ken Abbarno, attorney and representative of the Walker family, announced two upcoming events honoring Walker.

There will be a unity rally on Tuesday at Remedy Church, located at 1700 Britton Rd. in Akron, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The funeral will be held for Walker on Wednesday at the Akron Civic Theater, located at 182 S. Main St. in Akron. There will be a viewing from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by a service at 1 p.m. The service is open to the public.

Continuous calls for non-violent protest

DiCello, on behalf of the family, again called for a nonviolent protest in support of Walker and the family.

“We stand for nonviolence, but we encourage protest,” DiCello said. “We encourage the First Amendment exercise of the pain and suffering that has been inflicted on this family and this community. And today we want the world to know that expressing your pain and anger about of what happened can be non-violent and can support justice for Jayland.”

Robert DeJournett, pastor of St. Ashworth Temple in Akron, echoed calls for nonviolent protest.

“We are angry, we are hurting and people should be able to protest nonviolently,” DeJournett said. “And that also goes for our police department, because they shouldn’t – they should also act in a non-violent way. So, as this is a two-way street, we want to do it and do it right, because we’re not going to leave until justice is served. But we want to do it with dignity. We want to do it with respect. We’re overwhelmed with the support we’re getting. And what we really want is that.” is to rest our loved ones.”

“Stop the Blame Game”

Walker family attorney Bobby DiCello called out the city of Akron for what he called an attempted defamation of Walker.

“On behalf of the Walker family, we come together today to denounce the violence against the protesters who have gathered in support of this family,” DiCello said at a press conference on Monday. “We also asked the city to stop the blame game.”

DiCello said an Akron police press conference on Sunday, in which they showed footage of Walker wearing a mask, “was an attempt to portray Jayland as someone he wasn’t. , and the ongoing rhetoric about it needs to stop.”

DiCello said the city is “missing the point” by focusing on threats against city officials and law enforcement.

At a Monday morning press conference, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett spoke about the threats the mayor and law enforcement officials have received. following the shooting.

“I, too, received threats,” DiCello said. “I, too, have been the target of hate communications. And I didn’t do a press conference about it, because it’s not about me.”

DiCello said those involved in law enforcement or his work need to “understand what it means.”

“We do not take these threats lightly and we do not encourage them in any way. But they are not and should not be the focus,” he said.

Calls for immediate change

DiCello also called on the city to allow the Justice Department to immediately become involved in the shooting investigation and have federal DOJ officials work alongside the Ohio BCI.

He also called on the city to take immediate action to address some of the political issues that have emerged since the shooting.

“There’s no reason, no reason, to take a slow approach to changing policies,” DiCello said. “It can happen this week, today, it could have happened yesterday. They could have come to the office on Friday. So we encourage the city to immediately – and we ask them to immediately start – new policies with dash cams This isn’t and shouldn’t be up for debate right now. The need for dash cams in the city shouldn’t even be up for debate.

And after?

Representatives for the Walker family said they were not aware of any grand jury proceedings at this time and had not been informed of any prosecution efforts.

“We will, at a later date, express our need for an independent prosecution here,” DiCello said.

RELATED: