What has the family of Andrew Brown Jr said about the police shooting?
Pasquotank County Attorney Michael Cox showed Brown's family footage from the fatal incident, but the 20-second clip has only prompted more questions about the police's actions.
On Monday the family of Andrew Brown Jr., who was fatally shot by police in North Carolina last week, confirmed that they have seen body-camera footage of the 42-year-old’s death. But the family attorney has said that while they have been shown the video, just 20 seconds of the altercation has been made available so far date.
Even that footage was delayed by several hours due to redactions sought by the county’s attorney. There are now growing calls for the full footage to be made public as questions about the police’s handling of the situation mount.
Brown was killed was killed by Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies in Elizabeth City on Wednesday 21 April, when officers attempted to serve him with an arrest warrant. The body-camera footage reportedly shows Brown sitting in his car with his hands on the steering wheel when the first shots were fired.
Brown’s family call for the full footage to be released
Despite there being seven or eight officers with body-cameras in attendance for the incident, the city authorities have so far refused to release anything more than the 20 seconds that was shown to the family on Monday. The Mayor of Elizabeth City, Bettie Parker, declared a state of emergency in response to the protests that followed Brown’s killing.
She claimed that releasing the full tape could make matters worse, saying: "There may potentially be a period of civil unrest within the city following the public release of that footage.”
But the family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, told reporters on Monday: “We do not feel that we got transparency.”
He added: "We only saw a snippet of the video. ... And they determined what was pertinent. Why couldn’t the family see all of the video? They only showed one body-cam video, even though we know there were several.’’
Brown’s son Khali Ferebee told CNN that the family was “heartbroken” at the authorities’ lack of transparency after the incident, saying: "We got a little bit of evidence, but that wasn't enough for us.”
What have the authorities said about the death of Andrew Brown Jr.?
In response to the calls for more footage of the shooting, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten posted a statement on Facebook which seemed to downplay the value of body-camera footage: "This tragic incident was quick and over in less than 30 seconds, and body cameras are shaky and sometimes hard to decipher. They only tell part of the story."
The video was shown to the Brown family on Monday afternoon by Pasquotank County Attorney Michael Cox, who reportedly attempted to prevent some of the other attorneys from viewing the footage. Protesters in Elizabeth City briefly gathered at Cox’s home on Monday evening, chanting "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" and "Black Lives Matter".
Seven police deputies have been placed on administrative leave since the incident, with another two resigning and one announcing his retirement. All of those placed on leave were part of the operation to serve the warrant to Brown but not all fired their weapons.