A SHOCKING video captured the moment Barack Obama’s half-sister was tear gassed at a rally in Kenya.
Auma Obama, 64, was in the middle of a live interview with CNN, protesting a controversial tax law in Nairobithe nation’s capital when police fired tear gas at surrounding protesters.
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“I’m here because look what’s going on,” Obama, a Kenyan-British citizen, told CNN’s Larry Madowo.
“Young Kenyans are speaking out for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners,” she said as smoke filled the area before abruptly adding, “I can’t even see anymore.
“We are being tear gassed,” Obama said as he began coughing and struggling to breathe.
Moments later, Obama and several protesters flee the area as Madowo is heard coughing and struggling to catch his breath on live TV.
Obama, 64, shares the same father as the former president.
Thousands of Kenyans have flooded the streets of the capital in recent days after lawmakers approved tax increases that some say place additional burdens on low-income citizens and businesses.
The new legislation introduces increases in goods and services, including hospitals, basic needs and imports.
Lawmakers say the additional $2.7 billion raised in taxes would boost the country’s revenue and limit borrowing in its struggling economy.
However, Kenyans widely criticized the bill and organized mass protests dubbed the “7 Days of Rage”, calling for a complete shutdown of Kenya.
Protesters plan to occupy parliament in the country’s capital, Nairobi.
Photos later revealed that some protesters managed to break into parliament.
Some parts of the complex were later seen on fire.
Clashes between protesters and police turned deadly, with at least five people shot dead and another 31 injured.
More than a dozen protesters were injured by live bullets and rubber bullets, according to several human rights groups in Kenya.
Amid the protests, the US government spoke out asking for “calm”
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told the BBC that the US is “closely monitoring the situation in Nairobi, where police opened fire on protesters trying to storm the Kenyan parliament, and calls for calm.”
Later that night, the Kenyan government deployed military personnel to provide support to police forces.
Aden Bare Duale, chairman of the defense council, criticized the protests saying they were causing “destruction and breach of critical infrastructure,” according to the BBC.
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