Family member of fire bomber who tried to set cops ablaze say he was just protesting

On May 7th, Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez was found lighting cars on fire in the Southeast District Station of Raleigh, North Carolina. When approached by law enforcement and asked to stop, Nunez threw a molotov cocktail at one of the responders, prompting the four police officers at the scene to open fire. Nunez sustained multiple gunshot injuries, was rushed to a hospital, and died later that same day.

Per ABC news, police at the scene remember telling Nunez to stop and repeatedly warned him “don’t do it."

Nunez reportedly replied, “Today...is my day...to... move on,” and proceeded to attack the officers.

In the absence of mental health issues, Jasiel Rodriguez-Nunez said his brother was protesting his experience in the US prison system.

“Personally, I believe that my brother was protesting. Maybe protesting things that he saw in (jail). It was a way of protesting," Jasiel said.

He said he disagreed with the police's decision to shoot his brother, saying officers could have found alternative ways of restaint.

"To me, he was just shot like an animal. He was not a psychopath…I think this was taken personal. Like, 'Let's just get this guy over with, shoot him! Shoot him!'" Jasiel said.

Officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative duty, which is consistent with standard procedure for police personnel involved in a shooting.

Abolition Media, an online news source for "revolutionary movements" which exists to "draw a clear line that separates anti-state struggle from annihilation," celebrated the attack.

"As the white supremacist US prison system and police continue to brutalize and murder Black and Brown people, militant action like the Molotov attack by Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez is a legitimate and necessary response," they wrote.