Multiple shops on Brixton Road have closed down today after being sent warnings that there was ‘potential civil unrest in the area’ following the news of a proposed protest over the police shooting of Chris Kaba.
Chris Kaba, 24, was shot dead after a police pursuit of a car ended in Streatham Hill on Monday night. He was unarmed.
Campaigners called for a protest outside Brixton police station at 3pm, but when we attended there was only a handful of people milling around.
However, Brixton Bid sent out letters to local businesses warning them of ‘potential civil unrest in the area,’ and as a result several shops are now closed for the rest of the day, including Foot Locker, TK Maxx, CEX, Morleys and the San Marino café. Curiously, Pret a Manger was advised to just close down their downstairs area.
Several people we spoke to in the street thought that Brixton Bid’s response was a total overreaction, suggesting a far more sensible approach would have been to simply warn businesses to be prepared to close early, just in case.
Here’s some photos from around Brixton:
All quiet outside the police station at 3.45pm.
Family response
