SHOCKING video captured the moment Barack Obama’s half-sister was tear-gassed at a demonstration in Kenya.
Auma Obama, 64, was in the middle of a live interview with CNN, protesting a controversial tax bill in Nairobi, the country’s capital, when police fired tear gas at surrounding demonstrators.
“I’m here because look at what’s happening,” Obama, a Kenyan-British citizen, told CNN’s Larry Madowo.
“Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners,” she said as smoke filled the area before abruptly cutting herself off.
“I can’t even see anymore. We’re being tear-gassed,” Obama said as she began to cough and struggled to breathe.
Moments later, Obama and the several demonstrators 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 flooded the streets of the capital in recent days after lawmakers passed tax increases that some say impose extra burdens on low-income citizens and businesses.
The new legislation introduces price hikes in goods and services, including hospitals, basic necessities, and imports.
Lawmakers say the extra $2.7 billion raised from taxes would boost the country’s revenue and limit borrowing in its struggling economy.
However, Kenyans have widely criticized the bill and organized mass protests dubbed the “7 Days of Rage,” calling for a total shutdown of Kenya.
The demonstrators planned to occupy parliament in Nairobi.
Photos later revealed that protestors succeeded in storming parliament, with some even entering the senate chamber, according to Reuters.
Parts of the complex were later seen in flames.
The clashes between protestors and police have turned deadly, with at least five people shot dead and 31 others injured.
Some are suspected missing.
Who is Auma Obama?
Auma Obama was spotted protesting a controversial tax bill in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday. Video shows her and other protestors being tear gassed by police.
Auma, 64, is the half-sister of former president Barack Obama, 62.
The two share a father: Barack Obama Sr., who was born in Kogelo, Kenya.
During his 2015 trip to Kenya, Auma was one of the first people to warmly welcome the then-president for his first trip back to the country in nearly a decade.
Auma was born and raised in Kenya before moving to Germany where she studied.
She received her master’s degree at the University of Heidelberg and later received another degree at the German Film and Television Academy.
Auma also completed a doctoral degree at the University of Bayreuth.
Auma is an accomplished author, activist, and founder of the Sauti Kuu Foundation in Kenya which seeks to “give a voice to financially and socially disadvantaged children and youth.”
She has won numerous awards including the Global Impact Award, IFAT Environmental Leadership Award, and the World Human Rights Award from LOOK Magazine.
Faith Odhiambo, the president of the Kenya Law Society, claimed that around 50 people, including her personal assistant, were “abducted,” according to the Associated Press.
Odhiambo claimed the people taken had been vocal in past demonstrations.
Civil society groups have said the individuals were taken from their homes, places of work and even in public ahead of Tuesday’s protests by people thought to be police officers.
Over a dozen demonstrators were injured by both rubber bullets and live rounds, according to several human rights groups in Kenya.
Amid the protests, the US government has spoken out urging “calm.”
A White House National Security Council spokesperson told the BBC that the US is “closely monitoring the situation in Nairobi, where police opened fire on demonstrators trying to storm the Kenyan parliament, and is urging calm.”
Later in the evening, the Kenyan government deployed the military to provide support for police forces.
Aden Bare Duale, the chairperson for the defense council, blasted the protests saying it was causing “destruction and breaching of critical infrastructure.”
Internet service in the country has also slowed down amid the protests, according to the Associated Press.
Cybersecurity and internet watchdog Netblocks has labeled the incident a “major disruption.”