CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Protests over the fatal police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. have gone on in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, since the incident happened in April.
The protests are now spilling into other cities across the state, including right here in Charlotte.
Protestors in Charlotte and five other cities in North Carolina held rallies in solidarity with protestors in Elizabeth City, who have been holding protests every night at 5 p.m.
“A warrant is not a license to kill, this is not bring him in dead or alive,” Steve Knight with Repairers of the Breach said. "We felt that we needed to stand in solidarity with them to let them know people across the state are with them.”
Brown was shot and killed by deputies who were trying to serve drug-related warrants. An independent autopsy released by the family found Brown was struck five times, including once in the back of the head while in his car.
Though Brown was unarmed, his shooting was deemed justified by the district attorney who said he used his car as a deadly weapon, forcing officers to shoot. The bodycam footage showing what happened was originally held back.
"The district attorney can just decide, nope, we’re not going to let you see it, we’re not going to release it to the public," Knight said. "We’re not even going to show it to the family of the victim.”
It has since been released in part, and Brown’s family believes he was never threatening officers but trying to flee. Knight said it’s a prime example of why transparency is crucial.
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"We need to be able to see and judge for ourselves what is happening in these cases,” Knight said.
A new North Carolina senate bill, Senate Bill 300, is seemingly a step toward that. It would amend the North Carolina body cam law to require immediate family or a personal representative to be shown unredacted bodycam footage that depicts death or serious injury within five days if requested. Law enforcement agencies could still ask a judge for permission to redact confidential or sensitive information.
Knight said it doesn’t go far enough.
"One of the key things we’re calling for is making these body cam videos available to just to the families but also to the public,” Knight said.
The bill has passed the Senate and is now under consideration in the House.
Contact Lana Harris at lharris@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram.