‘Same script different cast’: Decision on Andrew Brown shooting sparks outrage
Frustration, anger and confusion quickly surfaced Tuesday after a North Carolina prosecutor said sheriff’s deputies will not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 42-year-old Black man.
Andrew Womble, the Pasquotank County district attorney, made the announcement as he shared details of the state’s investigation into the final moments of Andrew Brown Jr.’s life.
Brown died on April 21 after Pasquotank County deputies came to his home in Elizabeth City to serve arrest and search warrants. Video from body-worn cameras, played during a press conference Tuesday morning, shows deputies fired at Brown’s car as he tried to drive away.
Bakari Sellers, an attorney for Brown’s family, said he disagreed with Womble’s assertion that Brown had used the vehicle as a weapon.
“The ‘contact’ was minimal at best & initiated by officers,” Sellers said on Twitter. “He was beyond law enforcement when multiple shots were fired, including kill shot to the back of head.”
Joy-Ann Reid, a political commentator and national correspondent for MSNBC, also criticized the prosecutor’s decision, noting that police arrived in Brown’s neighborhood “armed up like a military unit” to arrest him on drug charges.
“And the D.A. is saying this is all fine,” she wrote on Twitter. “I feel sick.
Brown’s death gained national attention, with activists and elected officials calling for the deputies’ body-worn camera footage to be made public. But a judge blocked its release, though Brown’s family could see it.
Brown’s attorneys said an autopsy showed he had a fatal gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Brown was killed the day after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted on murder charges in the death of another Black man, George Floyd. Video from Floyd’s final moments in May 2020 showed Chauvin kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes.
Floyd’s death sparked demonstrations nationwide as people called for police reform and justice.
“Officers reasonably believed deadly forced was justified”
Same script different cast #AndrewBrownJr #AndrewBrown— Hennessy Hot Wing Bae (@EttaMay09) May 18, 2021
Activists took to the streets again after Brown’s death at the hands of deputies brought renewed outrage. Peaceful protests were held in Elizabeth City, and prominent religious leaders and social justice advocates joined calls for transparency.
On Tuesday, one Twitter user seemed to reference past cases in which shootings involving law enforcement officials were deemed justified: “Same script different cast.”
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation issued a statement Tuesday describing its work on the case.
“During the course of this investigation, the NC SBI interviewed numerous witnesses, conducted crime scene analysis, collected and reviewed video footage, and engaged in other investigative activities in an attempt to conduct as thorough and complete an investigation as possible in a timely manner,” the statement said. “After providing the facts to the District Attorney, it was his duty to apply the law to those facts to make the ultimate decision about whether criminal charges were appropriate.”
Kristie Puckett-Williams of the ACLU of North Carolina said the decision in Brown’s case shouldn’t be a surprise.
“Until we have radically changed the many ways the criminal legal system harms and kills Black and Brown people, justice will continue to elude its victims,” she wrote on Twitter. “The decision not to bring charges against those who killed Andrew Brown Jr. is a sign that the system is working as it was designed to.”
Others criticized the way the district attorney characterized Brown during his announcement.
So they’re having a whole press conference just to attack a dead man (Andrew Brown) and vindicate the people who killed him.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) May 18, 2021
“So they’re having a whole press conference just to attack a dead man (Andrew Brown) and vindicate the people who killed him,” said CNN commentator Ken Boykin.
But at least one social media user saw the situation differently.
“Andrew Brown Jr. only has Andrew Brown Jr. to blame for the death of Andrew Brown Jr.,” one person wrote in a tweet.
@MSNBC @CNN -womble is a f*CKING LIAR and is weaving a well rehearsed fairy tale!! Andrew Brown’s family is being assaulted all over again!! Expect a FIERCE RESPONSE to this SHAM of a news conference!!!!
— Bev Miles (@bootsiecali) May 18, 2021
North Carolina DA is making a statement saying that the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr was justified.
He was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head.— Shannon FM (@Katpa73) May 18, 2021
Watching the press conference and video of Andrew Brown’s death - police jump out of the back of a truck and run up screaming profanities, then a barrage of gunfire. Hard to understand how the DA calls it “justified”.
— Karen Finney (@finneyk) May 18, 2021
The DA in the #AndrewBrown justifying yet another murder of a Black man at the hands of the police. The secrecy and lack of transparency is the tell. Using terms such as "stand their ground" is just fuel on the fire. As usual, they blame Black men for their murders.
— Dr. Trevon D Logan (@TrevonDLogan) May 18, 2021
Body-cam footage from police isn’t public record in NC. But what about other states?
Who was Andrew Brown? Here’s what we know about Black man fatally shot by NC deputy
