Transparency, or lack thereof, is nothing new when it comes to police shootings. In fact, precedent tells us nefarious state actors, time after time, try through any bureaucratic means necessary to cover up wicked actions with red tape and lies. And the alleged assassination of Andrew Brown, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is another example of the sheer lack of transparency.
As of today, more than 5 days after the shooting, no video has been released to the public, despite the public outcry for transparency. However, a short snippet of the video has been viewed by the family attorney’s and it is being described as an execution.
An execution.
Brown’s son, Khalil Ferebee, saw the 20 second snippet of the video and states that his father was simply trying to get away.
Family Attorney Harry Daniels said Brown was shot in the back of the head, and he called for the officers involved in the shooting to be arrested “right now.” Attorney Daniels went on to state, “Just because you wear a badge, shield or star, doesn’t give you the right to kill and if you kill, doesn’t give you the right to be free while a clear killing is on video.”
According to the family attorneys, the snippet presented to them was 20 seconds long and clearly shows Sheriff deputies shooting at Brown as he sat in his vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel.
“He wasn’t reaching for anything, he wasn’t touching anything, he wasn’t throwing anything around,” stated Attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter. According to Cherry-Lassiter, Brown then put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of the driveway, and deputies shot at him as he drove off.
The vehicle, by this point riddled with bullet holes, crashed into a tree.
And please note, as of today:
7 Deputies are on Leave
2 Deputies have resigned
1 Deputy has taken an early retirement
It’s also important to note where this alleged assassination and apparent (as well as active) cover up took place. It took place in Elizabeth City, a town of no more than 18,000 people. This town, under the umbrella of Pasquotank County, is a County policed by a vast majority white Sherriff’s office. This murder didn’t happen in some big metropolitan. It happened in a small, majority black town, surrounded by a small, majority White county. And this small landlocked part of North Carolina, where the majority of its Black citizens are policed by a vast majority White Sheriff’s force, is desperately attempting to cover up a truth draped in racism because they simply think they can. It’s a town where the Sherriff’s office assumed they could easily cover up heinous actions by simply sweeping it under the rug. It’s a town where the majority Black citizens are under served and often overlooked.
And if not for the advocates, and the protestors, and the attorneys, Andrew Brown’s death would’ve surely been overlooked, as well. Like so many others.
Leslie McLemore writes about a lot of different stuff for Black With No Chaser. He is also the Takeaway Kang and is the father of two beautiful girls, one of which gets on every nerve he has. The other one is sweet. So, you know, balance.
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