Rally planned for Teen killed in Officer-involved Shooting

A rally for Zachary Hammond, the teen shot and killed by a police officer, is planned for noon on Aug. 15 at Norton-Thompson Park in downtown Seneca. The Put Down the Guns Now, Young People Organization sponsors the rally, explains Jack Logan. “With Zachary Hammond, we try to prevent these type tragedies. We reached out to help them because we love Jesus, the color of his skin does not matter to us. We plan to have a rally in Seneca at the park there because we want justice for this teen. We feel that this teen should not have been shot at all during a drug sting that should automatically been videoed.” This is a free, peaceful rally, continues Logan. “We plan to have speakers come in and talk about what we expect law enforcement to do from this moment on, we want to see the people of Seneca live in peace there in Seneca and not be afraid of law enforcement. Not only Seneca, not only Oconee County, not only the state of South Carolina but throughout America, no one should fear police.” Logan tells more about his organization, Put Down the Guns Now, Young People and its mission. “Our organization began in 2010 with a grass roots campaign here in the state of South Carolina, educating teens to stay away from gun violence. We try to prevent that mother or father from going to a mortuary, looking down on their son or daughter, and then we don’t have to worry about that other mother or father going to a prison or detention center to visit their son or daughter. We educate kids to stay away from gun violence.” 19-year-old Zachary Hammond was shot and killed by a Seneca police officer July 26 in the parking lot of Hardee’s off Bypass 123. Seneca Police Chief John Covington reported that the officer fired twice into Hammond’s open driver side window, acting in self-defense because Hammond drove his car toward the officer. SLED continues to investigate the case.