Police officers were forced to intervene to save the life of a young man in Nairobi’s Central Business District on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, after he was violently roughed up by irate members of the public on suspicion that he was a hired goon.
The incident unfolded as anti-government protests surged in intensity during the early afternoon hours, with security officers clashing with demonstrators who were decrying what they described as a pattern of state-sanctioned brutality, particularly over the death of blogger Albert Ojwang while in police custody.
In a video shared by a local TV station on X, the injured man was seen pleading for mercy as an angry crowd surged around him, hungry for mob justice, while police officers worked desperately to de-escalate the situation and called for calm.
The man had sustained visible injuries to his head from the beating, with an open wound on his neck pouring blood, which he kept wiping off with his jacket while leaning against a wall.
Police officers stood between him and the raging crowd, forming a human barrier to prevent further assault.
In the same footage, a section of the crowd is captured shouting that the man was a thief, while others accused him of being a goon who had fallen off a fleeing motorbike after his alleged accomplices escaped.
“That one is not one of us. Beat him; he is a thief. Get out of here. He fell off a motorbike, and he is a goon,” one man shouted in Kiswahili.
Following the tense confrontation, police officers were seen pulling up a police truck and urging the bleeding man to hop inside as the crowd’s chants grew louder.
The man, who was clad in a white football jersey, did not hesitate. Assisted by the officers, he quickly climbed onto the back of the truck as protesters jeered and hurled insults.
Protests sweep Nairobi
The incident was part of a larger wave of demonstrations that saw hundreds of Kenyans, particularly youth, pour into the city centre to protest the mysterious death of blogger Albert Ojwang, who passed away under unclear circumstances while in police custody.
While the demonstrations began peacefully during the morning hours, they quickly took a volatile turn as the afternoon progressed. Early calm was shattered when reinforcements from the police arrived in droves and began firing tear gas to scatter the swelling crowd.
Protesters also used the occasion to reject proposed new tax measures, which they say would worsen the already unbearable cost of living.
Waving placards and chanting anti-government slogans, they demanded accountability from lawmakers and called for justice in the Ojwang case.
Many carried placards bearing Ojwang’s image, with some demonstrators specifically calling for the arrest of the Deputy Inspector General of the National Police Service.
However, the mood shifted sharply when heavily armed police officers blocked key streets, forcing demonstrators to retreat and scatter.
In scenes that resembled a cat-and-mouse chase, masked police officers wielding batons tried to contain the crowds, while tear gas canisters lit up the air in a cloud of unrest.
Motorcyclists, pedestrians, and business owners scrambled for safety as the unrest intensified along major roads, including Kenyatta Avenue and Moi Avenue.
Meanwhile, police Land Rovers prowled the streets as protesters regrouped and attempted to push forward in defiance.
Demonstrators accused the government of shielding rogue officers and intentionally stalling justice, even as they made their way through central streets, countering the police presence with chants of resistance.
