DJ's Laptop Stolen From Media Vehicle Attacked By Police In Viral Video

DJ Spider Freddy, a viral DJ who has been entertaining supporters during the Azimio la Umoja demonstrations, stated on Thursday, March 30 that his laptop was stolen from a media vehicle attacked by a plain-clothes police officer.

The vehicle was part of the motorcade which was ferrying party leader, Raila Odinga, between Embakasi and Nairobi, where he made several stops to address a crowd consisting mostly of his loyal supporters.

The media vehicle was following the lead vehicle and was ferrying media teams and equipment including a Public Address (PA) system that enables politicians to speak through the microphone while addressing crowds of people so that their message is clear.

A crowd that was adjacent to the convoy was dispersed by teargas lobbed by police officers, leaving the motorcade on the front line and subject to overwhelming teargas attacks.

Image of a plainclothes police officer attacking a media vehicle belonging to Azimio la Umoja coalition on March 30, 2023. /YOUTUBE.AFRICA UNCENSORED

The occupants hanging from the lead vehicle dropped off to catch their breath as the lead vehicle opts to make a U-turn, a signal to the rest of the motorcade that it was time to turn back, leaving the media vehicle at the front and the most vulnerable. 

The vehicle's occupants as well as the driver abandon the vehicle, but the journalists atop the SUV could be seen signalling to the police their surrender by raising their hands, signals the police ignored as they kept lobbing teargas coupled with water cannons as the rest of the vehicles turned back.

The journalists, some of whom were badly injured, managed to alight from the media vehicle's roof and seek refuge as the vehicle sat idle in the middle of a wet road clouded with teargas, with its sound equipment abandoned and windscreen damaged.

However, what would be expected to be a calm situation soon turned chaotic as a plainclothes police officer approached the vehicle as captured in a video that went viral across social media platforms, breaking its windshield and firing a teargas canister inside.

As the other officer holds the vehicle at gunpoint in anticipation of smoking out anyone who may have been left inside, the aforementioned officer returns for another round, this time breaking the driver's window and firing another canister into the vehicle before walking away, checking his gun.

DJ Spider shared a snippet of the attack on the vehicle, alleging that his laptop was stolen while his team was attacked by teargas.

"And just like that my laptop which was still playing music when we were Ruthlessly teargassed at Kware was stolen from our vehicle," he stated on Twitter.

The video elicited uproar across the media industry but sparked mixed reactions among some users who noticed some inconsistencies in terms of the number plate. While the video showed the number plate as KBB 233B, a previous photo of the same media vehicle emerged with the number plate, KDD 233P.

By the time of publication, Viral Tea was unable to independently establish whether or not the number plate was altered to protect its true identity.

Raila shared the same snippet on his Twitter account, asking Kenyans On Twitter (KOT) for assistance in identifying the police officers. He earlier alleged an assassination attempt on his life while condemning attacks targeted at journalists covering the anti-government demonstrations.

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible what has happened today. Today is a very sad day in the history of this country. This shows that we’re degenerating into the colonial stage, where lives of Africans did not matter at all because there’s no reason why police should use this kind of force against unarmed citizens who are merely exercising their democratic rights,” he said during a media address in Karen.

“My own car was hit seven times with live bullets, and the direction of the bullets was all aimed at me. These people have been threatening and blackmailing us, unfortunately, the friends of this country are not helping. Look at the statement released by some ambassador based here, you would think that they live in a different country; they’re actually adding fuel to this conflict, instead of being independent and neutral arbiters.”

A section of members of the press were hospitalised after allegedly being brutalised by goons and anti-riot officers. Among them was NTV's Senior Cameraman Eric Isinta who suffered injuries on his face after being hit with a tear gas canister during the protests in Nairobi. 

Six journalists from Royal Media Services, Nation Media Group and Standard Media Group were injured as they covered the protests.