Israeli police have clashed with demonstrators and activists in the occupied city of al-Quds as they gathered to protest against a court ruling that exonerated the regime’s officer of wrongdoing for the 2020 killing of an autistic Palestinian man.
The demonstrators gathered in downtown al-Quds on Thursday night for a “protest of outrage” against the acquittal of an Israeli police officer, whose name is barred from publication by the regime, in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Iyad Halak in the occupied Old City.
The acquitted officer, who faced charges of reckless manslaughter, killed the autistic Palestinian man on his way to a special education school. The officer claimed he mistook Halak’s phone for a gun and chased him down with another cop until cornering him, proceeding to shoot him dead.
The district court in al-Quds earlier in the day exonerated the officer of any wrongdoing and claimed he “made an honest mistake thinking he was dealing with an armed terrorist.”
Israeli media said the acquitted officer had returned to work and was slated to join a commanders’ course in the coming weeks.
