Andrew Brown Jr.’s family reacts after viewing bodycam video showing deadly police encounter

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The family of a Black man who was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina last month said he did not deserve to die and posed no threat to the officers who shot him. 

The comments came during a Tuesday press conference after the family of Andrew Brown Jr. viewed more than 18 minutes of body camera video of the fatal encounter. 

“He wasn’t in the wrong at all. What’s in the dark will come to the light,” Brown’s older son Khalil Ferebee told reporters after viewing the footage. “He’s going to get his justice.” 

Andrew Brown Jr.
(Horton’s Funeral Home and Cremations)

“My father did not deserve to die at all. He did not deserve to get killed in any way shape or form. He did not pose any threat at all,” Brown’s other son Gerald said. “In court, there’s no way that this could be justified. There’s no way possible.”

One of the family’s two attorneys — Chance Lynch — who viewed the footage and joined both of Brown’s sons at the press conference called the shooting “unjustified.” He said Brown was sitting in his stationary car with his hands on the wheel when the first of numerous shots were fired. 

“We did not see any actions on Mr. Brown’s part where he made contact with them or tried to go in their direction,” Lynch said. “In fact, he did just the opposite. While there was a group of law enforcement that were in front of him, he went in the opposite direction.” 

Brown was behind the wheel of his car and outside his house in Elizabeth City when he was shot on April 21. Deputies working on a regional drug task force were serving a drug-related search warrant at the time.

A prosecutor said Brown’s car had made “contact” with law enforcement officers before the shooting began. But Brown’s family and their attorneys have said Brown was driving away and died from an unjustified “execution.”

File: This file photo shows Rev. Al Sharpton speaking during the funeral for Andrew Brown Jr., at Fountain of Life Church in Elizabeth City, N.C. 
(AP)

The office of Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II scheduled the Tuesday viewing following a judge’s ruling on Thursday that said the family could view some of the recordings within 10 days.

Judge Jeffery Foster ruled that the family can view less than 20 minutes of the nearly two hours of video that was recorded.

Foster has said that he would not publicly release the recordings, because doing so could jeopardize the ongoing investigation into Brown’s death or threaten the safety of people they show.

The judge ruled that the video must remain out of public view for at least 30 days, but he would consider releasing it after that point if investigations are complete.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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