Sheriff to let Andrew Brown, Jr. family view video of fatal shooting on May 11, judge limits how much can be shown
WBTV News Now: Fight continues for release of body cam video in fatal shooting of Andrew Brown, Jr. By Associated Press, WITN Web Staff, and WBTV Web Staff | May 7, 2021 at 12:46 PM EDT - Updated May 7 at 6:45 PM
(WITN/WBTVAP) - Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten says the family of Andrew Brown, Jr. will view the body camera video of his shooting on Tuesday, May 11.
This after a judge finally issued his written order, which gives the sheriff 10 days to show the video and now limits the amount of video they can actually see.
By BEN FINLEY - Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. â The family of a Black man who was fatally shot in his car by sheriffâs deputies in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, will only be shown a fraction of body camera footage recorded at the scene and could wait days longer to view it, under a judgeâs written ruling.
Attorneys for Andrew Brown Jr.âs family had expected to see the video as soon as this week after Judge Jeffery Foster ruled from the bench on April 27 that the family would be shown the videos âwithin 10 days. The judge also said he would specify in a written order which portions they could view.
Foster s ruling on Thursday limits what the family can see of the encounter, which occurred while deputies were serving a drug-related search warrant at Brown s home. The family will be able to view less than 20 minutes of the nearly two hours of video that was recorded.
“The portions of the videos withheld are found to not contain images of the deceased, and thus are not appropriate for disclosure at this time,” Foster wrote.
Foster’s order also contained a brief description of the footage. The judge wrote that Brown “attempted to flee the scene and escape apprehension” and that “at least one and as many as three officers fired their weapons into the vehicle operated by Brown.”
Editorial Roundup: North Carolina
Winston-Salem Journal. May 1, 2021.
Editorial: Police video law leads to mistrust
The tortuous slow drip of police video footage in the fatal police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City has confounded national media, which have struggled to explain this state’s convoluted police video law to the rest of the country.
Welcome to North Carolina.
And if it’s any consolation to our visitors, we don’t get it either.
As counter as the law is to the spirit of trust, open government and accountability, that’s how we roll here. And it needs to end.
And if it’s any consolation to our visitors, we don’t get it either.
As counter as the law is to the spirit of trust, open government and accountability, that’s how we roll here. And it needs to end.
Consider how, only a day earlier, the city of Columbus, Ohio, handled a similar situation very differently.
Following a fatal police shooting of a Black 16-year-old girl, authorities released body-camera footage of the incident within hours. In Elizabeth City, it will be a matter of weeks.
A Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the police footage will not be made public, as both media outlets and the Pasquotank Sheriff’s Office had requested, for at least another 30 days.