Ted Williams on Brown shooting: ‘Insane’ North Carolina authorities didn’t release video
Fox News contributor argues if authorities do not release the bodycam footage of the Andrew Brown Jr. case, the public is left to wonder if the sheriff’s deputies are ‘hiding something.’
A judge in North Carolina announced Wednesday that the body camera footage of the fatal deputy-involved shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. will be delayed for public release for at least 30 days.
Superior Court Judge Jeffery Foster approved disclosure of the videos to Brown's adult son, Khalil Ferebee, other immediate family members and one attorney licensed in North Carolina within 10 days. The faces of the officers may be blurred before the disclosure, the judge said. The disclosure will include five files, but four videos in total from body cameras and a dash cam.
The public release of the body camera footage will be held for release between at least 30 days and no more than 45 days to allow North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to move forward with their probe into the shooting, Foster said. The SBI will be ordered to present its findings to the court, when Foster will make another determination about the videos’ release.
Releasing the videos at this time would jeopardize the reputation or safety of a person, pose a serious threat to the administration of justice and infringe on the confidentiality necessary to protect a possible criminal investigation, Foster said. The judge also denied a petition made be a media coalition for the videos’ release despite the compelling public interest.
Earlier in the hearing at the Pasquotank County Courthouse, District Attorney Andrew Womble said that body camera footage showed that Brown's car made contact with deputies twice as he backed out of the driveway of his home in Elizabeth City, N.C. on April 21 before law enforcement began firing.
A protester carries a Black Lives Matter flag shortly before the start of a dawn to dusk curfew following the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. by sheriffs last week, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, U.S. April 27, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake (REUTERS)
Womble claimed that statements made by Brown family attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter at a press conference earlier in the week about the video were "painfully false." She told reporters that Brown was already under fire, kept his hands on the wheel, avoided deputies and was trying to save his life as he drove away.
Brown's family said they were privately shown just 20 seconds of bodycam footage on Monday.
FAST FACTS
- The FBI probe will look into whether any federal laws were broken during the attempted arrest
- Elizabeth City declared a state of emergency Monday
Elizabeth City declared a state of emergency Monday
Roads were closed in downtown Elizabeth City ahead of the hearing. A total of seven people were arrested Tuesday night as protests continued for a seventh straight night. Dozens of protesters remained out on the streets in violation of the city's curfew that went into effect at 8 p.m.
The FBI launched a civil rights probe Tuesday into the death of Brown. His family also released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head.
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