Kenyan comedian turned activist Eric Omondi visited Victor Juma on July 21 after anti-riot police arrested him.

Juma gained attention when a viral video showed him facing off with anti-riot law enforcement authorities in Mathare Constituency after they lobbed tear gas into his house.

In the video, Mr. Juma could be heard questioning the police officers about tear-gassing his house when no one from his household was participating in the opposition-led demonstrations taking place nationwide.

“Why have you teargassed my child? Who are you pointing at? You want to shoot me? Just know you have also sired children. You want to kill my child? You’ve tear-gassed my child, and she fainted in the house. Beat me. I haven’t carried any weapons. I have come from the house to tell you the truth. What are you telling me? You are hurting our children. Why did you teargas my child?” Juma shouted at the officers.

One officer pretended to be a journalist and rushed up behind Juma, arresting him and leading him to his colleagues, who then bundled him up into a police lorry. The officers taunted him for ‘behaving like a man’ as they manhandled him.

In an interview, Eric Omondi shared that Mr. Juma is not doing well in police custody but expressed hope that he will soon be fine.

“He has just been taken to Milimani Law Courts, and I am following him there. He was arrested for unlawful assembly. Right now, we want to look at paying his bail - to look into his legal rights to get a cash bail - and then look into getting him a job to take care of his family. We are yet to know what work he would go for because we are focused on securing his freedom,” said Eric Omondi.

Eric Omondi also revealed that Mr. Juma told him that the police firing tear gas into his house while battling demonstrators was intentional, and the gas made his toddler daughter collapse.

During that distressing moment, Juma and his wife were left unsure about what to do next - whether to rush their child to the hospital or stay home and remain safe, as demonstrators faced off with the police, and they risked being beaten by the police regardless of their urgency.

In the end, Mr. Juma decided to confront the anti-riot police officers in anger while his wife took care of their child's health.

Eric Omondi plans to visit the family as soon as Juma is released and reunited with his loved ones.