The 'Tupac Back' rapper suggests that the officers, who fatally shot the knife-wielding black man in West Philadelphia, are lower than 'thug on the streets.'

• Oct 27, 2020

AceShowbiz - Meek Mill has spoken up on the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old black man who was armed with a knife in West Philadelphia. Taking to his Instagram page on late Monday night, October 26, the Philadelphia-born artist condemned the act that cost the life of another black person.

"A so called 'thug on the streets' wouldn't shoot a man with a small knife that many times to protect themselves....," he wrote on his Stories, suggesting that the officers who shot Wallace are lower than street gangsters.

"the hood been seeing this our whole lives..I posted for y'all to see a young man killed in front of his mom and coulda been resolved with a tazer or a shot or 2!" he added, before urging people to help seek justice for Wallace's mother. "Let's help her ASAP!"

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of George Floyd, tweeted on Monday, "Philadelphia cops fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. today, firing 10+ times at him while he stood at least 10ft away." He continued, "He allegedly had a knife but cops made NO attempts at de-escalating the situation in this video. They went straight to killing Wallace in front of his loved ones!"

The shooting occurred just before 4 P.M. after Wallace allegedly ignored police's commands to drop the weapon during a confrontation. It was not clear how many times he was hit, but his father Walter Wallace Sr. said his son appeared to have been shot 10 times. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"Why didn't they use a Taser?" the senior Wallace asked outside a family residence on the block. "His mother was trying to defuse the situation." He said his son struggled with mental health issues and was on medication. "He has mental issues," Wallace claimed. "Why you have to gun him down?"

Police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp said the officers had ordered Wallace to drop the weapon, but he "advanced towards the officers." Both officers, who have not been identified, wore body cameras during the incident and have been taken off street duty pending an investigation.

The shooting has prompted protests in the neighborhood as people gathered on the streets, chanting, "Black Lives Matter." They marched to the police station at 55th and Pine Streets as they yelled, "Say his name: Walter Wallace."