Black Lives Matter protester Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, found dead

16 June 2020, 11:47

Oluwatoyin Salau went missing after she tweeted about being sexually assaulted. A 49-year-old has been arrested in connection with the case.

Oluwatoyin Salau, a 19-year-old Black Lives Matter protestor who went missing earlier this month, has been found dead in Tallahassee, Florida.

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Salau disappeared nine days before her body was found after she tweeted about her experience of being sexually assaulted by a man "disguised as a man of God".

"Anyways I was molested in Tallahassee, Florida by a black man this morning at 5:30 on Richview and Park Ave. The man offered to give me a ride to find someplace to sleep and recollect my belongings from a church I refuged to a couple days back to escape unjust living conditions," Salau began in a series of tweets posted on June 6.

Salau had joined a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest on May 30 outside the Tallahassee police headquarters, and was photographed as she recited the names of various victims of police brutality through a megaphone.

"I don’t want their names gone in vain!" she told the crowd at the protest, just one of many taking place worldwide in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd.

"Those lives may be lost, but we cannot be scared. You are angry and it’s OK to be angry." According to Essence magazine, Salau was a "mainstay at Tallahassee protests."

Salau's body was discovered on Saturday night alongside the body of another victim, retired state worker and grandmother Victoria Sims, 75, who was last seen on June 11.

Salau's family confirmed her death on Monday according to a report from the Tallahassee Democrat. Both names were released with permission of their families in accordance with Marsy’s Law.

According to the Tallahassee Police Department, a 49-year-old man named Aaron Glee Jr has been taken into custody in connection with the double homicide.

Glee has a history of criminal offences to his name. He was arrested May 29 on a charge of aggravated battery after a police officer spotted him kicking a woman in the stomach, according to police reports.

The woman told authorities they had been drinking alcohol together and were walking down the street when she declined his proposition for sex. "Glee became angry, shoved (her) to the ground and began kicking her in the abdomen," the police report says.

In response to Salau's tragic death, people have been using the hashtag #JusticeForToyin to honour the life of the young activist.

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