Andrew Brown Estate files federal lawsuit alleging excessive force

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Brown, a 42-year-old black man, was gunned down on April 21 by Pasquotank County MPs in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Much of the incident was captured by body cameras worn by some of the MPs involved in the incident, but North Carolina law restricted its broadcast.

A media group, including CNN, has asked the court to release all videos of the incident captured by law enforcement. This request was rejected by the court. Separate family, city and sheriff petitions were also filed.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges MPs used “an intentional and reckless disregard for Brown’s life and safety” when they fired their guns at his vehicle.

Lawyers for Brown’s estate held a press conference on the steps of the Federal Courthouse in Elizabeth City.

A group of protesters who have staged daily protests since Brown’s death – 85 days in total – listened from the indulgent shade of a large tree.

“We stand in front of this federal courthouse because that’s where we think ultimately Andrew Brown can get justice because he hasn’t got justice in life and so far he hasn’t even not obtained justice in death, “attorney Bakari Sellers, a CNN contributor who also represents the family, said at the press conference.

Nearly a month after Brown’s death, Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble concluded the shooting – which Brown’s family described as an execution – was justified, saying Brown had “recklessly” conducted the police at the scene while trying to flee the arrest. During his presentation, Womble showed some of the videos captured by the MPs.
On the same day, Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten said the three MPs who shot Brown would be reinstated and retrained. One of them has since retired and the other two are back in force.

“Although the district attorney concluded that no criminal law had been broken, this was a terrible and tragic result, and we could do better,” Wooten said, adding that two MPs had failed. not turned on their body cameras during the incident.

“We didn’t feel like we could get justice in the sheriff’s office. We didn’t feel like we could get justice in state court. So we had to come where we think the justice is blind and will have all Being equal. ” The sellers said when announcing the lawsuit

In June, members of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP met with Justice Department officials to ask them to investigate the April shooting.
In a hand-delivered letter signed by thousands of community members, clergy and lawmakers, the section called for a model or practice civil rights inquiry.
Two of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. are back at work and the third intends to resign

Anthony Coley, spokesperson for the Department of Justice, confirmed that the meeting took place. The ministry has not announced whether it will open an investigation into the patterns or practices. To date, five such investigations are underway.

The FBI had separately announced a federal civil rights investigation in April.

The estate lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $ 30 million.

The lawyer who represents the two counties that employ the sheriffs and deputies named in the lawsuit declined to comment on the lawsuit.

CNN’s Chris Youd and Natasha Chen contributed to this report.

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