By Anders Anglesey
U.S. News Reporter
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Bystanders have accused officers of saying "blue lives matter" shortly after a policeman shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant Bryant dead.
The footage, shot in Columbus, Ohio, at a time after 4:44 p.m. on Tuesday, showed a man confronting the police claiming the officers were "crazy" for using the phrase, which he called an "insult."
A woman off-screen then said: "Did he just say 'blue lives matter?' Boy, shut the f*** up because blue lives don't matter right now. I don't want to hear none of that dumb s***."
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She continued: "This 15-year-old just got killed and you're talking about blue lives matter?"
After the video was uploaded to Twitter, several users on the platform accused police of making the comment.
One user said: "Three white officers say, 'blue lives matter' to a group of black residents at the scene where police shot and killed a 15-year-old girl."
Newsweek has contacted the Columbus Police Department for comment regarding the allegation.
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Bryant was shot dead on Tuesday after she lunged at a female, while holding a knife, outside a home on Legion Lane, in east Columbus, according to authorities.
According to Reuters, CPD officers found several people on a front lawn and opened fire when Bryant raised her arm above the woman, who was backed up against a car.
Bodycam footage appeared to show Bryant, a Black teenager, had been carrying a knife at the time she was shot. She was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
The shooting happened as the U.S. heard former police officer Derek Chauvin had been found guilty of murdering Black man George Floyd.
While authorities said Bryant was a 15-year-old girl, her family described Bryant as a 16-year-old, according to WBNS.
Bryant's mother, Paula, said her daughter was a "sweet child" who had been on the honor roll at school.
She told WBNS: "She was a very loving, peaceful little girl. Ma'Khia had a motherly nature about her. She promoted peace. That's something that I want to always want to be remembered."
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther later responded to video footage of the shooting and said an investigation into the shooting had been launched.
He said: "This afternoon a young woman tragically lost her life. We do not know all of the details. There is body-worn camera footage of the incident. We are working to review it as soon as possible.
"BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation) is on the scene conducting an independent investigation as they do all CPD-involved shootings. We will share information that we can as soon as it becomes available. I'm asking for residents to remain calm and allow BCI to gather the facts."
The name of the officer who shot Bryant was not released during a media briefing on Tuesday night. The interim chief of police said he would be taken off frontline duties for the time being.
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