Activists Call For Scrutiny Of SB Black Man Shot By Police While On Trip From Indiana To Arizona

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Activists are trying to bring attention to the case of a young Black man who was shot by New Mexico state police while on a road trip from Indiana to Arizona. Rodney Applewhite was on his way to Phoenix to visit family for Thanksgiving when he was shot following a police pursuit and altercation in which authorities say he grabbed an officer's gun and tried to unholster it while being taken into custody. Activists rallied Friday in New Mexico, Arizona and Indiana. They renewed calls for police reforms. Authorities also provided more details about what led to the deadly encounter, describing a string of erratic behavior. Protesters carried a banner in front of the official residence of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as part of an in-person and virtual rally for justice in the police shooting on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, in Santa Fe, N.M. Family of Rodney Applewhite, 25, have been asking for additional details in the incident that led to him being shot by police. New Mexico State Police released additional information after the protest, and released his name to the public. Applewhite, of South Bend, Indiana, was driving through New Mexico on the way to a family Thanksgiving in Phoenix, Arizona, when police shot him on Nov. 19, his family said.