FBI starts probe into death of Black man killed by deputies

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By BEN FINLEY and JONATHAN DREW

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — The FBI launched a civil rights probe Tuesday into the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by deputies in North Carolina, as his family released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for a special prosecutor while pressure built on authorities to release body camera footage of last week’s shooting. A judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider formal requests to make the video public.

The FBI’s Charlotte field office, which opened the civil rights investigation into Brown’s death, said in a statement that its agents planned to work closely with the Department of Justice “to determine whether federal laws were violated.”

The independent autopsy was performed Sunday by a pathologist hired by Brown’s family. The exam noted four wounds to the right arm and one to the head. The state’s autopsy has not been released yet.



Attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., Wayne Kendall, left, and Ben Crump hold a news conference Tuesday, April 27, 2021 outside the Pasquotank County Public safety building in Elizabeth City, N.C., to announce results of the autopsy they commissioned. The attorneys say an independent autopsy shows that Brown, a Black man, was shot five times, including in the back of the head. Brown was shot Wednesday by deputies serving drug-related search and arrest warrant. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-north-carolina-race-and-ethnicity-elizabeth-city-bfa6b5f803a7041be6fdd4efe4cc762a

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

1. Why do I feel like we are in the movie Mississippi Burning

With the justice department and FBI investigating all these local law enforcement agencies.

[csziggy]

2. Dead center at the base of the skull

How'd they get that shot with a guy in a car driving away from them?

[Bayard]

3. Agreed

This was an execution. He would have survived the arm shots.

[EndlessWire]

6. You don't know for sure he would have survived

I didn't go through the arm shots. I believe they said there was some grazing. But, we don't know at this point.

Don't ever forget that guy who was stopped by a cop while driving. He had his family in the back seat. He told the cop that he had possession of a legal firearm (licensed).

He was told to give the cop something, and then when he moved to get it, the cop shot him in the arm. The wound was so bad that he bled out right there in the car in front of his family.

I don't know what that guy could have done differently. Not told the cop he had a weapon in the car? I dunno. I'd be so afraid to move a muscle after these incidents. I'd be resisting out of pure fear.

[barbtries]

4. email from State Senator Jay Chaudhuri:

It’s been six days since Andrew Brown died last Wednesday morning in Elizabeth City.

My thoughts and prayers go to the Brown family and the entire Elizabeth City community as they wait for answers.

Six days later, we now have reports of only one 20 second video snippet viewed by the Brown family and their attorneys from only one of the seven sheriff's deputies who were present in Mr. Brown’s driveways. And, clearly that 20 second video snippet has raised more questions than answers.

Andrew Brown's family deserves to know the truth. The Elizabeth City community deserves to know the truth. And, the citizens of our state deserve to know the truth.

Given the delay in releasing such body camera footage, I believe the General Assembly should act swiftly to reexamine and revisit our body cameras legislation. The House and Senate bills that have been filed require body camera footage to be released 48 hours after a request has been made unless a law enforcement agency files an objection with the court.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article250964779.html

but this is NC, where republicans rule the GA with idiocy and cruelty; the bills will most likely never even be acted on. I'm glad the feds are doing something.

I'm all vaccinated and ready to march. This could be the time.

[wnylib]

5. This case reeks of cover up.

Good thing the Feds are looking into it. The locals have no intention of releasing complete videos or further information. My guess: The full videos from all body cams are so damning that the police fear the reactions when the family and general public hear/see the full story