Protest marchers confront Wilmington Police

Dozens of protesters marched through downtown Wilmington, the latest in a series of marches protesting the death of a wheelchair-bound man in a police shooting. 

Since Jeremy McDole was killed by Wilmington Police last September as he sat in his wheelchair in the middle of a city street. Police maintain McDole had a gun. Family and supporters do not accept that as true. 

Last week, Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn announced that there would be no charges against the officers involved in the fatal shooting. However, Denn’s office initially did pursue charges against one of the officers, Senior Corporal Joseph Dellose. The investigation of that charge against Dellose resulted in a determination by the AG’s office that his actions “did not constitute criminal conduct under Delaware Code.” However, Denn’s office believes he should not be a police officer.

That determination was addressed by protesters in downtown Wilmington Friday. Some of the marchers held signs that stated “Shotgun Joe needs to be charged with murder.”

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

The group marched through the heart of Wilmington’s retail and business corridor on Market St. where they were met by a line of city police. They then marched a few blocks over to an area in front of the City/County Building where they heard from several speakers.

On Wednesday, several Wilmington religious leaders gathered to call for a federal investigation into the officer’s actions. “When you have officers sworn to protect and serve ALL CITIZENS, who espouse racial epitaphs, it is a cancerous ethos and culture that must be addressed and eradicated,”said Dr. Donald Morton of Complexities of Color Coalition.

New Castle County Councilman Jae Street is also working with the religious community for a further investigation and joined the protesters in Friday’s march.

 

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal