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Yet another black man became a hashtag yesterday as Kevin Allen died at the hands of Lyndhurst, NJ police, who said they had not option but to use lethal force against him in a library on a Friday afternoon.

Officials claim that Allen, 36, who was shot and killed by officers inside the Lyndhurst Public Library, was armed with a utility knife. Apparently a “law enforcement officer” recognized Allen, who basically had a bench warrant for not showing up in court, and a confrontation of some sort ensued from there.

NJ.com reports:

Chief of Police James O’Connor said 36-year-old Kevin Allen “menaced” police with the utility knife before they shot him around 1:30 p.m. in the library’s top floor. “He was aggressive towards them….he charged at them with [the knife],” O’Connor said Friday night.

Earlier, a law enforcement source said local police engaged Allen when he was spotted outside the library because he was wanted.

O’Connor said officers first tried to subdue Allen using non-lethal force, including using pepper-spray and a baton on him. Allen continued to charge at the officers with the large utility knife after police tried to stop him.

The site also says that Allen was often seen at the library, watching music videos and largely keeping to himself, according to people on the scene Friday afternoon. The chief said investigators were interviewing several people, including a child, who were in the library during the confrontation.

So police shot in a library where children were, ostensibly to protect the public.

One can take the police version at face value, or maybe just maybe, police followed a black man into said library because he looked suspicious (Lyndhurst is apparently a not-so-welcoming-to-black-people predominantly white community), and just had to shoot to kill because the pepper-spray and baton didn’t work. Hmmmm.

According to witnesses, Allen kept to himself usually, but that day, this fateful day, he rushes the police with a knife, and they just HAD to shoot him in a crowded library on a school day. So funny, how armed white people get the kid glove treatment forever and always.

Once again, police have acted as judge, jury and executioner. And most likely will face no consequences. ‘Merica.

So Now Black Men Are Not Even Safe From Police In Libraries…RIP Kevin Allen  was originally published on newsone.com