Utah Police
The Salt Lake City Police Department is the latest U.S. police department to come under scrutiny after bodycam footage shows an officer shooting and killing a man, as the man appeared to be running away, Oct. 5, 2017. In this photo, a police officer stands guard outside the gym where multiple students were stabbed at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah, Nov. 15, 2016. Getty Images

Demonstrators gathered outside the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building in Utah Sunday evening for a rally conducted by Black Lives Matter, calling for police accountability in the shooting of Patrick Harmon and to protest against a prosecutor’s decision to not file charges against the Utah police officer who fatally shot Harmon, a 50-year-old man in August.

Police bodycam footage of the fatal shooting was released last week on Thursday, which sparked outrage across the state and among people accusing law enforcement of racial profiling and a "brutal execution."

Footage from the incident, which occurred on Aug. 13, appeared to show Harmon was shot from behind by a police officer as he attempted to flee the scene. Protests began over his death after prosecutors in Salt Lake City said Friday that the police officers won’t face charges and were justified in killing the 50-year-old black man.

Warning: Graphic Video

Lex Scott, an organizer with Black Lives Matter in Utah, said last week that the community wants Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, who was responsible for the decision, to resign. Harmon’s family, who live in Colorado and St. Louis, were "shell-shocked," Scott said.

"You can't watch that video and not realize it is a clear case of murder," Scott said. "It is one of the clearest cases of murder we've ever seen," he added, ABC News reported.

Gill said Friday that the shooting by the police was justified because a separate slow-motion video of the incident that they had seen, appeared to show Harmon turning toward the police with a knife with the blade out. A knife had also been discovered at the scene, the district attorney said.

"We felt that the officer was justified in the use of that lethal force," Gill said. "He generally feared for his safety and the safety of other officers."

"They just murdered him flat out," Alisha Shaw, Harmon’s niece, told the Guardian on Thursday after watching the footage. "They are lying. There is no way they were threatened by anything. He was only trying to get away."

The incident took place in August when police said Harmon was pulled over for riding a bicycle without a light. The body-camera footage, which was handed to local media, showed one of the officers identified as Clinton Fox shouting "I’ll f----ng shoot you" before firing three shots into Harmon, who appeared to be running in the opposite direction.

Police claimed that Harmon was trying to escape while they tried to arrest him after they became aware that the 50-year-old had outstanding warrants, including one for aggravated assault.

They also alleged that Harmon was carrying a knife and said "I will cut you" before he turned to face the officers. The released video, however, does not show Harmon pointing a knife at the officers.

Fox told investigators he felt "terrified by how close Harmon was to the officers" and it was the "scariest situation he had ever been in."

Fox's claims that he felt threatened by Harmon has not been clearly evidenced by the police bodycam footage. Harmon appeared to be disoriented and upset, when he attempted to flee the scene, however, there is no obvious indication that he was trying to threaten the police.

Police chief Mike Brown, said in a statement: "We trust the process and support the decision from district attorney Sim Gill. I believe our officers have the training and judgment and ability to make split-second decisions in dynamic situations."

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