ELIZABETH CITY — Superior Court Judge Jeff Foster declined Wednesday to release to the media the body camera footage of the shooting and killing of Andrew Brown Jr. by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies last week.
The judge heard arguments from lawyers for county officials and media, who petitioned for the release of the footage, at the Pasquotank County Courthouse.
Brown, 42, was shot and killed in his car outside his home in Elizabeth City a week ago as deputies were serving search and arrest warrants related to felony drug charges.
It happened less than 24 hours after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man.
The shooting has spurred nightly protests in Elizabeth City, where hundreds of people have demanded footage of the incident be made public.
Arguments over body-cam footage
In court Wednesday, Mike Cox, attorney for Pasquotank County and its sheriff’s office, said the sheriff’s office wants to release the video to the family and the news media, in accordance with the law.
“While the body-cam footage only shows one perspective for a limited period of time, it might give the public some ability to understand what happened that day,” Cox said.
Cox said the release of the footage will not impede the independent investigations by the FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in this case.
But Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble argued against the full and immediate release of the body camera footage. He said there’s a compelling public interest for accountability, but the release would hinder a fair trial, risk the safety of the deputies and affect active investigations.
Womble, who would be the one to bring criminal charges in this case, said the footage should be released as evidence, if and when there’s a criminal trial.
Womble asked that the judge, who has watched the footage, disclose any portion that he deems appropriate to Andrew Brown’s family when practicable and with any redactions necessary. He argued the video should be released to the family in 30 days, after the SBI has completed its investigation. Womble would then want to have the footage released in open court at a jury trial after charges have been brought.
If no charges are brought, he said he would release the video at a press conference where he explains that decision.
“I want your honor to give me an opportunity to complete this investigation, or the SBI to complete this investigation, let me review it, make my decision,” Womble said. “And then everyone can Monday morning quarterback me.”
H.P. Williams, an attorney on behalf of unnamed clients, also argued against the release of the footage. But, he said he would not oppose disclosure of the video to the family as long as faces of the officers involved are redacted so that they cannot be identified.
“The officers are very distraught over what happened. They feel for the family of Andrew Brown,” Williams said. “But, as Mr. Womble described to you, we believe that the shooting was justified.”
‘Advocating for transparency’
Speaking for a group of state and national media organizations, Mike Tadych argued that the footage needs to be released to help bring facts to a subject that has generated much speculation and rumor.
They are seeking the release of the recordings of the incident involving Brown from the time they begin to the time of the protests that followed that night.
Tadych also highlighted the national discussion ongoing about police accountability issues as a reason to release the footage.
“The petitioners are not here to indict or vindicate law enforcement. And they are not here to indict or vindicate Mr. Brown,” Tadych said. “They are here in the interest of advocating for transparency in the hopes of aiding the national conversation we find ourselves in about citizens’ interaction with the police.”
Andrew Brown’s family and its lawyers and supporters arrived at the courthouse at 9:45, and lined up outside under the cover of old trees. Brown’s 92-year-old grandmother, Lydia Brown, was the first to enter the courthouse, pushed on a wheelchair.
A crowd of approximately 50 media members, meanwhile, gathered outside — some waiting to gain entry themselves. The hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but was delayed.
The members of the media remained outside as the hearing began.
‘An execution,’ family’s lawyers say
Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, an Elizabeth City attorney representing Brown’s family, saw a 20-second snippet of the video on Monday with Brown’s son Khalil Ferebee and Ferebee’s mother. Lassiter said the video showed Brown was shot multiple times while he sat in his vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel.
They called the shooting “an execution.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Ferebee said the private autopsy commissioned by the family and attorneys confirmed that. That autopsy showed Brown was shot 5 times, with a fatal bullet wound to the back of his head.
The body-worn camera footage has not yet been released publicly, despite pressure from lawmakers, civil rights leaders and hundreds of protesters. They’re also asking officials to release footage from a street camera near Brown’s house and a dash camera in a police van.
North Carolina law does not allow law enforcement agencies to release officers’ body camera footage, that’s up to a judge, which is why there was a court hearing.
On Tuesday, Elizabeth City shared a city-owned video that shows several deputies in tactical gear arriving at Brown’s home in the back of a pickup truck. That footage camera, which is mounted on a utility pole along Brown’s street,
The camera, which is mounted on a utility pole along Brown’s street, captures the moments before Brown was shot and killed.
The black pickup truck turns towards the driveway and deputies jump out of the truck bed, yelling “Get your hands up!” the video shows.
After seeing that footage, attorneys for Brown’s family said in a statement Brown was “brought down by an inflamed modern-day lynch mob.”
“The footage shows an eerie resemblance to what we saw in Ahmaud Arbery’s modern-day lynching, except these were no vigilantes — these murderers were on the clock as law enforcement,” the statement said.
They hope the body camera footage will help hold the officers responsible for Brown’s death accountable.
Related Story: DA argues Andrew Brown Jr.’s car struck deputies twice, family lawyer gave ‘patently false’ bodycam remarks
“As it backs up, it does make contact with law enforcement officers,” Womble said, adding that the car stops again. “The next movement of the car is forward. It is in the direction of law enforcement and makes contact with law enforcement. It is then and only then that you hear shots.”
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Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, an Elizabeth City attorney representing Brown’s family, saw a 20-second snippet of the video on Monday with Brown’s son Khalil Ferebee and Ferebee’s mother. Lassiter said the video showed Brown was shot multiple times while he sat in his vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel.
They called the shooting “an execution.”
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If the body cam footage shows an unjustified shooting, show it and let the looting, rioting, arson, vandalism, and assaults begin. If the body cam footage shows a JUSTIFIED shooting, show it and let the looting, rioting, arson, vandalism, and assaulting begin. Let’s get it over with and appreciate the predictable left wing spin and fanning of the flames of further BIden/liberal division.
No matter WHAT the truth of the matter is, THE LEFT / BLM WILL WANT TO riot…
More and more i honestly think its INHERENT in their dna.
Andrew Brown Jr. another fine upstanding criminal, who fled the police. Andrew Brown Jr. aka multiple felonies Brown!