A British police officer was acquitted today of the shooting death of a black man in London two years ago, an incident that had sparked mass protests and outrage among members of the black community in the British capital.

Martin Blake, aged 40, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Chris Campa, who was unarmed and died of a single gunshot to the head, in Streatham, south London, on September 5, 2022.

The accused was acquitted by a jury following a three-week trial at London’s Old Bailey.

Kaba was killed after armed police stopped his car, which had been linked to a shooting incident the night before.

He had attempted to flee, with police cars blocking his way, when Metropolitan Police officer Blake shot him through the windscreen.

Prosecutor Tom Little told jurors at the opening of the trial earlier this month that Blake’s decision to shoot Kamba was “not objectively and logically justified or justified.”

However, Blake said he believed there would have been “an imminent threat” to his colleagues if he hadn’t shot Kaba.

He presented evidence that he intended to incapacitate Kamba, not kill him.

“My intention was to stop that vehicle, which I believed was going to hit my colleagues,” Blake said.

Kaba’s death sparked protests and angered the British capital’s black community, which has long protested unfair and racist behavior by the Metropolitan Police.

The decision to charge Blake was unusual: the Independent Office of Police Conduct said it or its predecessors had handled 26 investigations into 28 people who died in police shootings since 2013. , referring only Blake and one other officer, who was not charged, to prosecutors