Activist Boniface Mwangi explained why he shared photos of a protestor who was killed by a police officer during Thursday’s Reject Finance Bill protests.
Rex Kanyike Masai was allegedly shot at by a police officer on Thursday evening, and was confirmed dead upon arrival at a local clinic.
Mwangi was among volunteers who joined the victim’s family to help them move Rex’s body to City Mortuary pending further investigations.
The activist also took to his social media pages to share photos of Rex’s lifeless body in a bid to show the world what the police did to unarmed protestors.
“I’m sharing pictures of 24-year-old Rex Kanyike lying in the morgue with consent from his parents, Chrispin Odawa, and Gillian Munyao who are standing over his body at the City mortuary. He was killed by the police this evening. They’re shocked and numb from the loss of their son,” he wrote on X.
However, this post sparked mixed reactions with one user calling out Mwangi for sharing the photos, worse with the victims parents in the photos’ background.
The activist countered the critic by further explaining the intention behind him sharing the photos and the message he wanted to send.
“Let me take @jeanbrendah to school because of her tweet calling me sick for taking Rex’s photo in the morgue. There was a young man called Emmet Till who was kidnapped and murdered after was accused of whistling at a white woman
“Emmet Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, made the courageous decision to have an open casket funeral. This was a bold move at a time when racial tensions were at an all-time high, and the reality of the vicious attack on Emmet was still fresh in the minds of many. The open casket allowed the world to see the brutal truth of what had happened to this innocent young man,” he wrote.
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The activist who has been in the forefront of the Reject Finance Bill protests went ahead to add;
“Emmet Till’s body was severely disfigured from the violence he endured. His mother wanted people to see the horror of what had happened to her son and the reality of racial violence. The funeral was attended by thousands of people, including many who had never seen such a brutal example of racial violence
“The open casket was a wake-up call to the world, showing that this kind of violence was not just a one-time occurrence, but a reality that was happening all too often. Tell Zakayo Rex is our Emmet Till! #JusticeForRex.”
In a separate post on his X account, Mwangi also called out the police for being dismissive and refusing to help Rex after being fatally shot.
“In Rex Kanyike’s pocket were his Identification Card, and phone. He wasn’t armed. He knew that Kenya Police harasses any young person who walks around without an ID. After the police shot him, his friend Alex, asked the police to help carry him, they told him “Wacha akufe!”
