I have demanded justice for countless other victims of police brutality, and we demand justice now for Hunter and his family. MISS BECKY: Sharpton and Crump help Hunter Brittains grandmother and guardian, Rebecca Payne. Sharpton had cynically sought to use the police murder of a white teenager to marshal support for the Democrats token George Floyd Act police reform bill in the Senate, which recently collapsed in negotiations. -- Reps. M. M. Smith, Erickson, Cobb-Hunter, Pedalino, Lawson, Sessions, Bamberg, Hiott, Carter, Pope, Felder, Guffey . We've been battling powerful forces for 48 years through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. But sometimes it is a failure of training, as with the shooting of Brittain by an officer who didnt turn on his body camera. King explained that the second police officer that arrived at the scene detained him: [The officer] told me get out with my hands up and pull my shirt up and stuff, and then [forced] me to the ground, put me in handcuffs and was dragging me around and stuff. It's even more aggravated when it's partial video. As Brittain pulled into the parking lot of Mahoneys, both Brittain and King opened their doors to let the smoke out. At least seven other unarmed white people have been killed by police this year, according to a Washington Post database. Hunter Brittain's life mattered just as much as Andrew Brown's. Say his name, even though he's white. Hunter Brittain was 17 years old when he died. He was my grandson, she said. The 17-year-old was shot and killed after a Lonoke County Sheriff's Office deputy stopped him around 3 AM. [7], Brittains family and friends have proposed Hunters Law. He said national standards are needed for policing and accountability. Did the officer hold a reasonable belief that his safety or the safety of others was at risk? 8 groceries, 35 restaurants, 5 parks. Newcomb says Brittain was pulled over by Davis because his vehicle was smoking heavily and the engine was knocking. Brittain was pulled over in the middle of the night last week in Cabot, Arkansas, for reasons that remain unclear. By subscribing and supporting our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage. "We hunger for additional evidence in these contested encounters," Fan said, but "even having the video is not going to lead to one conclusion that everybody shares. The jury found Michael Davis guilty of the misdemeanor charge, but not guilty of manslaughter. "It really needs to be kept until the prosecutor determines if it is appropriate for release," Golden said. July 13, 2021 at 11:35 am. He said it might be controversial. He said each one of their lives (by name) mattered. @KATVNews #arnews pic.twitter.com/XNMb5YWP1q Mills Hayes (@KATVMillsHayes) June 23, 2021 People then streamed past the coffin. "It goes back to the narrative that law enforcement is a good-old-boy system, and they will do whatever they can to protect their own, and what is needed is transparency," Abdul-Bey said. - cops story, seems a bit different from reality. King was with Brittain and another friend working on Brittains truck. Young Hunter did nothing wrong, just like George Floyd and others did nothing wrong but if we segregate how we react to the states violence, then we are in the wrong. The attorneys also represented the family of George Floyd, 46, who died in 2020 while in police custody in Minneapolis. Sharpton recounted Crumps call inviting him to join the Brittain case. Police killing of unarmed teen in Cabot, Arkansas, "Hunter Brittain family files lawsuit against former deputy, Lonoke County sheriff", "A Teen Was Having Car Trouble. On 11/01/2007 STATE OF FLORIDA filed an Other - Other Criminal lawsuit against LAYNE, BRITTAIN K. This case was filed in Escambia County Courts, Escambia County Courthouse located in Escambia, Florida. 1 year in jail is the maximum sentence for negligent homicide in Arkansas.[9][10][11]. This was the first time I was invited to speak at a service where the victim was white, but as soon as I received the call about Hunters death, I immediately said yes. In 2015, Oklahoma passed a law that, in part, stated that body camera videos should be publicly released if they depict use of force by police. The horrific death of young Hunter Brittain sadly shows us that no one is safe until there is true police reform and accountability. The Arkansas State Police, the investigating agency, and Lonoke County prosecutor Chuck Graham initially denied verbal requests for the body camera footage in the days after the shooting. - It's been nearly four days since 17-year-old Hunter Brittain was shot and killed by a Lonoke County Sheriff's Deputy and loved ones have been protesting at the Sheriff's office every night since. Arkansas is one of many states that does not mandate law enforcement to wear body cameras. Al Sharpton is an MSNBC columnist and civil rights leader. An investigation is underway. Details about when the camera was turned on and what the footage captured are unknown to the public. The body camera footage would be available once the case is closed or criminal charges are made, Steinbuch said. There are instances in Arkansas of officer-involved fatal shooting video being released before the prosecutor's decision. This is what determines the prevalence of right-wing and racist views within police departments, as well as the fact that minorities, disproportionately among the most impoverished sections of the working class, are disproportionately among their victims. In the first half of 2021 alone, police have already killed 530 people, according to the research collective Mapping Police Violence. According to his family members, he went to place a large blue plastic bottle of antifreeze behind a tire to prevent his car from rolling backward as it was having mechanical problems. It is simply unconscionable that this is the reality in the most powerful advanced nation in the world. Michael Davis, during a traffic stop June 23 near Cabot, about 30 miles . Hunter was a 17-year-old kid who had the right to live, had the right to go on to graduate high school and had the right to be protected by law enforcement not shot dead by them. Davis shot Brittain after he reached in the back of his truck for a container of antifreeze to chock a wheel so it wouldnt roll into the deputys patrol car. He is no longer with us in the physical sense, but his spirit is calling us to get out of our frozen place and unite, stand together, march together and fight together for true justice for all. Like so many. He arrived to assist Davis after the stop was made. 2023 The Federalist, A wholly independent division of FDRLST Media. Sharpton previews today's meeting with Biden, civil rights groups. Jurors found Michael Davis, a former sergeant with the Lonoke County sheriff's office, guilty in the shooting death last year of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain during a traffic stop outside Cabot,. The benefit of releasing footage far outweighs the negative effects of holding onto that footage.". Founded 1974, the Arkansas Times is a lively, opinionated source for news, politics & culture in Arkansas. Brittain's family, along with the family's attorneys and civil rights advocates, continue their calls for transparency and the release of footage in that shooting that they say could have been avoided. Based on a 2021 analysis of data from the US National COVID Cohort Collaborative, 20.2% of adults hospitalized for COVID-19 experienced a severe clinical course involving either invasive ventilatory support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), or death. Now whats going to happen? grandma Rebecca Payne said. This conforms to the pattern of police killings worldwide. Its at that point that the officer, Michael Davis, shot the 17-year-old three times. At a memorial for Brittain, he was eulogized by Reverend Al Sharpton. Homepage. Then friends spoke. Favorites. Ive had him for the last five years of his life. The legal team also represented the family of George Floyd, the man killed in 2020 at the hands of Minneapolis police whose death became a rallying cry in the Black Lives Matter movement. More than a month after a Lonoke County deputy shot and killed 17-year-old Hunter Brittain, officials have yet to release body camera footage amid a national conversation about police. Despite this being one of those unarmed police shooting deaths that so often arouse the media, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post has done a single piece of reporting on the incident. Hunter Brittain, 17, was killed by Davis on June 23, 2021. Supporting the Arkansas Times' independent journalism is more vital than ever. Say his name, even though hes white. Watch David Norths remarks commemorating 25 years of the World Socialist Web Site and donate today. I sat in the back of the cop car for about three hours.. Hunter Brittain's family has retained the same lawyers as George Floyd's family to represent them in court. AND SECTION 12-8-595, ALL RELATING TO THE WITHHOLDING OF INCOME TAXES, SO AS TO UPDATE A REFERENCE TO THE TOP MARGINAL INCOME TAX RATE. People will see the same video and draw different conclusions. The issue about policing is not about black and white, its about right and wrong.. According to Statista.com, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 604 civilians having been shot, 108 of whom were Black, in the first six months of 2021. According to MappingPoliceViolence.org, 745 people have been killed by police in the United States this year, of which 251 were white. SEARCH; For Sale. Ending this practice is one of the components of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House in March but has since stalled in the Senate because of Republican objections. "This case is still under investigation and part of the case is the information you are requesting," Phillips said in an email. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. The public deserves better. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. A seventeen-year-old white boy from McRae, Arkansas, Hunter was a rising senior at Beebe High School. However, Davis, after allegedly issuing commands, fired one round, piercing Brittains arm and striking him in the lower-right neck. Then I said. People protesting the killing of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain doing burnouts in the parking lot of the Lonoke County sheriff's office. The suit, which you can read here, also names Lonoke deputy Nathan Rice as a defendant. Brittains family members told the Associated Press they had wanted Davis convicted of a felony because it would have meant he couldnt work in law enforcement again. Skip Navigation Share on Facebook , where rallies have continued for three nights. "In most cases that I've seen, when they do not release it publicly, in the very least, they release it privately with the family to allow the family to see it," Abdul-Bey said. Noah "Hunter" Brittain, a white teen, was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy outside a local auto repair shop in McRae, Arkansas. With working class resistance growing, the Democrats and Biden are now diverting hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds into the hiring of more police. The police cannot be reformed within the framework of capitalism. Jordan King, Brittains 16-year-old friend and an eye-witness, said he and Brittain had worked through the night to change the transmission on Brittains truck after having driven approximately one mile down the road to Mahoneys Body Shop to make the repairs. Members get daily listing updates. Some self-styled militia took it upon themselves to post a guard outside the Lonoke sheriffs office. Lawyers for the family of Hunter Brittain announced today the filing of a federal lawsuit against Lonoke Sheriff John Staley and Michael Davis, the former Lonoke County deputy whos been convicted of negligent homicide for fatally shooting Brittain during a traffic stop last year. They are the one who is going to make that determination.". Davis, 31, was charged with felony manslaughter after the . The prosecutor released his opinion that the shooting was justified June 25 and released the video upon receiving a Freedom of Information request sent afterward. When police arrived at his home to detain him, body camera footage showed he tried evading the cops in his car, nearly plowing into one of the officers on the scene. [6], The death of Brittain inspired protests. Chances are you havent yet heard about 17-year-old Hunter Brittain who, despite being unarmed, was shot dead by police during a traffic stop. [7] Attorneys Ben Crump and Devon Jacob are representing Brittain's family. This act must pass and become law so there are national standards that protect all of us from bad officers. Advertisement According to the family's account, he'd been working on his truck's. Davis cried Thursday as he described the events that led to him killing teen Hunter Brittain during an early morning traffic stop June 23. Phillips mentioned during the interview, Davis was asked to clarify if he could see Brittains hands or see what was in Brittains hands prior to discharging his county-issued firearm. Staley should resign immediately or be set aside by the voters.. Hunter was white, a fact that may surprise people familiar with the cases I have represented in the past. "On the one end of the pendulum, there are the states that actually make it tough to get body camera videos explicitly," she said. Hunter deserved better. I didn't hear it and it happened so fast," Mr King told the station. When Pope County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Phillips, acting as the special prosecutor in this case, announced the charge during . States like California, Connecticut and Colorado have passed legislation that body-worn camera video of certain incidents be publicly disclosed within a specific time frame, which can range from a few days to more than a month after the incident. Michael Davis shot and killed 17 . Relatives have said Brittain was up late working on the vehicle's transmission before taking the test drive. Its only with changes well have some measure of peace.. Steinbuch is in support of a law that would provide more guidance on body camera footage specifically. Lawrence said it could be helpful for states to have laws on the release of police footage. But in this case, as in all the cases I have taken, it isnt just about Black or white; its about whats right and wrong. Eddie Scarry @eScarry More Articles Chances are you haven't yet heard about 17-year-old. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. The Judges overseeing this case are SMITH, KERRA A and [ II ] SMITH, KERRA A. "He was my grandson. They didnt say one word that I know of, King said. Hunter Brittain's family called for Davis to be convicted of a felony in the shooting. Biden and the Democrats, including their pseudo-left appendages, portray police violence entirely as an expression of white racism, in order to foment divisions within the working class and undermine the growth of working class resistance and class consciousness. Our monthly magazine is free at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. Members get daily listing updates. Friends and family of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain gather outside the Pope County Courthouse in Russellville, Arkansas on Friday. On July 14, the Arkansas State Police responded to a formal Freedom of Information Act request from the Democrat-Gazette for the footage and said the record is part of an "open and ongoing, undisclosed investigation by law enforcement." 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As a result, there have only been nine days this year where police did not kill someone. Brittain was transported to Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock by Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services. Michael Davis, a Lonoke County sheriff's deputy. Hunter Brittain was driving a truck that was stopped by the deputy, identified as Sgt Michael Davis, in Arkansas. The law would require all Arkansas police officers to wear a body camera which would be kept turned on during their shift. Cabot, a city of about 26,000 people, is located about 48km northeast of Little Rock. He urged them to say it loudly, so his grandmother with a hearing aid and Brittain in heaven could hear. 1 Of those 6565 . "There is no national standard," said Alissa Marque Heydari, deputy director for the Institute of Innovation in Prosecution at the college. The teen and his passenger were on a test drive at the time of the. 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