Man shot by officers in his home, captured on security video, sues Cherokee tribal police

An unarmed Cherokee County man, whose home security video of his shooting by Eastern Band of Cherokee police drew national attention, is suing the police department in federal court, saying officers tried to kill him "without provocation or justification."

Officers threw a robot drone into the home of Jason Kloepfer while he and his wife Alison Mahler were asleep and then fired "about 15 times" after he came to the door with his hands up, according to the suit filed June 20 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Asheville. Kloepfer, 44, was shot at least twice and nearly died, suffering damage to his heart, liver and other areas, said the 195-page complaint, submitted by attorneys Ellis Boyle of Raleigh and Zeyland and Franklin McKinney of Murphy. The suit is asking for a yet unspecified amount of damages.

"It's a long complaint with 25 claims, and we think that we have admissible evidence to support each and every one of the elements of those 25 claims," Boyle told the Citizen Times June 23.

"Cherokee County sheriff's deputies and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian police tried to kill Jason Kloepfer and Alison Mahler in their own home without provocation or justification at 4:57 a.m. on December 13, 2022," the complaint says. "Jason and Ali have their own independent video footage that shows the officers illegally shot at both of them and then lied to frame Jason. They tried to cover it up. Without that independent video footage, these officers would have gotten away with it."

Kloepfer could not be reached for comment.

Eastern Band officers do not police outside tribal lands but were requested by Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith to assist with what the sheriff's office at one point described as a potential "hostage situation." Deputies brought charges of communicating threats and resisting an officer against Kloepfer, saying in a news release he confronted officers and engaged in a verbal altercation. But home security video posted by Kloepfer later contradicted that, and the sheriff issued a new statement about the incident. District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch dismissed the charges.

In his statement, the sheriff said he was not on the scene, but the lawsuit challenges that, saying he "upon information and belief, Sheriff Smith rode with the SWAT team in the armored Bearcat from the church close by to the property around 4:19 am."

A State Bureau of Investigation probe into potential criminal wrongdoing by officers remains ongoing after six months, an SBI spokesperson said.

The sheriff declined to comment on pending litigation, according to an attorney representing him. Tribal police Chief Carla Neadeau did not respond to a Citizen Times message.

Along with the Eastern Band and sheriff's office, the suit lists dozens of defendants. Among them it names three members of the tribal SWAT team it alleges shot Kloepfer: Lt. Neil Ferguson, Special Operations Officer Nathan Messer and Patrol Officer Chris Harris. None could be reached for comment.

"One or more SWAT team members fired at least five rifle shots into the home after Jason fell backward under the barrage and neither of them were in the shooters' sites. They just kept firing blindly into an occupied home, trying to kill Jason and Ali," the suit says.

The lawsuit gives a detailed narrative in which deputies respond to a 911 disturbance call at 11 p.m. with a neighbor saying Kloepfer was "shooting off fireworks, screaming (and) yelling he’s going to kill the whole neighborhood."

Noting more than a dozen past calls tied to Kloepfer's house, deputies went to his property and begin searching areas of it, though they didn't have a warrant and were unable to verify what the neighbor said, according to the suit.

Eventually, they got a warrant and called for assistance from the tribal SWAT team. Officers opened the home's door and threw in a robot drone with a camera. The Citizen Times made a public records request for the drone's footage, but Neadeau, responding April 24, said there was none.

Soon after, the tribal government further restricted public access to police videos. Their new rules mirror state law that requires members of the general public to seek a court order to release videos by filing a civil action.

The suit says that officers violated Kloepfer's and Mahler's rights starting by coming onto the property without a warrant. Even after the shooting, they continued to violate their rights by filing unwarranted charges against them, it said.

"Jason and Ali would not have even been disturbed by the officers because they would have promptly left after it became clear they had no reason or support for loitering. Instead, these defendants stayed on the propertyfor six hours until they shot and almost killed Jason and tried to shoot Ali."

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This story will be updated. Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Man shot by officers in his security video sues Cherokee tribal police