Civil rights activists and religious leaders met with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday to request that the Department of Justice investigate the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr.
What We Know:
- On April 21st, Pasquotank County sheriff deputies went to Brown’s home to serve him an arrest warrant. Brown, a father of seven, attempted to drive away and was shot multiple times by the deputies. A month later, Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble stated that the police officers’ use of deadly force was justified, stating, “Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others.”
- Along with Cooper, State Attorney General Josh Stein and members of the legislative Black Caucus were in attendance at the meeting. Keith Rivers, Pasquotank County’s NAACP chapter president, stated that the meeting was “outstanding, uplifting, rejuvenated, and re-energized.”
- Cooper believes further investigation by federal officials is needed and that “special prosecutors” should handle police shootings. He also supports state laws that make it easier for the public to obtain access to body camera footage of law enforcement-involved shootings.
- On Thursday, the group of activists traveled to Washington, DC, to met and hand-delivered a letter to the DOJ requesting them to conduct a pattern-or-practice civil rights investigation into Brown’s death. According to CNN, the meeting did take place and went “exceedingly well.”
- Rivers issued a statement saying, “[we’ve] attempted every action to get transparency at the local level, without any cooperation. Today’s meeting in Washington will make sure the voices of the people of Pasquotank County are heard. Our community has lived for decades with a long-standing history of racial discrimination from law enforcement and government officials that must be addressed by independent intervention. Our community cannot rest without impartial justice, accountability and transformative change.”
- The three deputies who shot their weapons, Deputy Daniel Meads, Deputy Robert Morgan, and Deputy Aaron Lewellyn, were all placed on administrative leave. At the same time, the State Bureau of Investigation looked into the shooting. The Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Friday that Meads and Morgan were reinstated on June 1st and 2nd, while Lewellyn has decided to resign at the end of the month. Womble has informed the public that the returning deputies will not face charges, but they will be “disciplined and retrained.”
No further information on if the DOJ will open a pattern-or-practice investigation. In April, the FBI announced they are separately conducting a federal civil investigation into Brown’s death.
