San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers shot dead an Afghan national in a hotel after he charged them while wielding a knife, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” surveillance footage reveals.
Ajmal Amani, a 41-year-old Afghan national, was shot dead by officers in a hotel in San Francisco, California, on November 19 as surveillance footage shows him attempting to stab two officers by running towards them with a knife. In the process, Amani shouted, “Allahu Akbar.”
Amani had arrived in the United States in 2014 after working for five years as an interpreter for Navy SEALS in the Afghanistan War, the San Francisco Standard reports. Amani likely arrived on a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), a quasi-refugee category created in 2009 specifically for Afghans who contracted and worked for U.S. Armed Forces in the Afghanistan War.
Amani had been living in the San Francisco hotel, paid for by taxpayers.
Ajmal Amani, an Afghan national, seen in surveillance footage wielding a knife before police officers arrive on the scene. (Photo via SFPD)
According to surveillance and audio footage of the incident, a hotel employee called police, stating that Amani had been wielding a knife in one of the hallways of the hotel. Amani can be seen in verbal altercations in the hallway with others.
When officers arrived on the scene, they tried to get Amani to walk towards them with his hands over his head. Amani can be heard responding to officers: “Don’t talk to me. Shut the fuck up” and “Leave me the fuck alone.”
When Amani did appear in the hallway, he rushed toward officers with the knife he had been holding. That’s when officers shot Amani, causing him to fall to the ground. Officers eventually handcuffed Amani as paramedics arrived and he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.
Amani had prior run-ins with police.
Two years ago, Amani was arrested for trying to stab a San Francisco park ranger with a box cutter. According to Amani’s public defender, he suffered from mental illness. Amani was initially charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
The attempted murder charges, though, were thrown out by a judge and Amani was released into mental health treatment last year, where he was required to complete the treatment. Amani completed his treatment in August.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.