The demonstrators had gathered to protest police violence. They flooded the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, angry over the death of a man in police custody. As two officers approached a man at the protest, he turned to move away. Moments later, one of the officers shot him in the head.
The man, identified by authorities as Boniface Mwangi Kariuki, survived the shooting on Tuesday. But the moment, captured in a series of photographs, has inflamed public fury in Kenya over a pattern of police aggression.
Photos of the exchange show an orange muzzle flash on the side of Mr. Kariuki’s temple in the instant after the officer fired his gun. Another picture shows Mr. Kariuki falling and then slumping to the ground, with the side of his head bleeding.
Tuesday’s demonstration, and the resulting violence, is the latest setback for Kenya’s president, William Ruto.
Next week is the first anniversary of deadly demonstrations that convulsed the country, when thousands of people took to the streets to protest a deeply unpopular tax bill, only to be met with a brutal police response in which dozens of people were killed. Hundreds more were injured and at least 30 people were abducted or arbitrarily detained.
Observers said the protests were largely driven by young adults who used social media to organize and raise their concerns directly to their lawmakers. That airing of grievances posed an enormous threat to President Ruto, who has been trying to revitalize the country’s ailing economy but has found himself accused of employing authoritarian tactics in cracking down on the protests.
The shocking violence captured in the photographs during Tuesday’s protest comes nearly a year after the anti-tax protests, and reflects the simmering tensions still engulfing Kenya.
The police said in a statement on Wednesday that Mr. Kariuki was recovering from surgery and was in stable condition at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Muchiri Nyaga, a spokesman for the National Police Service of Kenya, said the organization “deeply regrets this unjustified act,” and that two officers, Klinzy Barasa Masinde and Duncan Kiprono, had been arrested by the department’s homicide team.
Kenyatta National Hospital said in a statement on Wednesday that in addition to treating the shooting victim, it also took in 15 other patients from the demonstration. The hospital said that “injuries ranged from gunshot wounds to blunt trauma.”
Local media reported that during the latest protests, people in civilian clothes wielded clubs, whips, stones and machetes alongside the police.
The protests were fueled by word of the death of Albert Ojwang, a blogger who died in police custody on June 8, two days after the police said he had been arrested on a charge of “false publication.”
President Ruto condemned Mr. Ojwang’s death “at the hands of the police,” and expressed his condolences to the family.
An autopsy found that Mr. Ojwang’s death in custody was most likely due to an assault, local media reported.
The protests come as other tensions have also been building in Kenya. Rising costs of living and anger over political corruption have contributed to the demonstrations, said Meron Elias, an analyst of African affairs at the International Crisis Group.
“The police response was heavy-handed last year during the protests, especially on the 25th of June,” Ms. Elias said. “Albert Ojwang’s death falls into that pattern and understandably caused a lot of anger and the demonstrations this week. Boniface Kariuki’s shooting only worsened that.”
Eve Sampson is a reporter covering international news and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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