‘It’s up to us’: Ben Crump calls for justice at Andrew Brown’s funeral

Family members and national civil rights activists alike gathered on Monday in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, for the funeral of Andrew Brown, Jr., a Black man shot by police late last month as he was driving away from officers.

“Because Andrew cannot make the plea for transparency, it is up to us make the plea for transparency and demand that these videotapes be released,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who also represents the families of Daunte Wright and George Floyd. “We already know what they’re going to show. Even Stevie Wonder, he can see, what these videos are going to show.”

Mr Brown’s family has privately viewed a 20 second clip from the encounter, where they say a group of 7 or 8 police fired countless shots, including with assault rifles, at Mr Brown as he kept his hands on the wheel of his car and wasn’t threatening officers. They have called, along with community members, for local authorities to release the full body camera footage of what happened.

Last week, a local court ruled that full footage wouldn’t be released for at least a month to protect ongoing investigations into the killing.