The Mayor of Elizabeth City, NC has declared a State of Emergency ahead of expected protesting as the bodycam footage of the police officer who shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr. is released to family members.
The declaration reads:
“I, Mayor Bettie J. Parker, Mayor of the City of Elizabeth City, North Carolina do hereby proclaim a “STATE OF EMERGENCY” in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. I direct all departments and agencies of Elizabeth City to take whatever steps necessary to protect life and property, public infrastructure, and provide such emergency assistance deemed necessary to preserve public safety.”
Police have now closed off several streets in downtown Elizabeth City to allow for peaceful protesting.
42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr. was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies while they were attempting to serve a warrant at Brown’s home on Wednesday, April 21, while Brown was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car in his driveway.
After family members watched the body cam footage this afternoon, they recounted what they saw in a press conference, saying:
“This was an execution…he had his hands firmly on the steering wheel. They run up to his vehicle shooting. He still stood there, sat there in his vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel while being shot at.”
JUST IN – “This was an execution,” says the attorney for the family of #AndrewBrownJr after reviewing the body-camera footage. #ElizabethCity pic.twitter.com/SBMiMvHUJO
— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) April 26, 2021
You can watch the entire press conference here:
Andrew Brown Jr. family speaks after seeing bodycam footage of fatal Elizabeth City, NC shooting https://t.co/oxbNrYZybv
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) April 26, 2021
The family also noted that they were only shown 20 seconds of body-cam video from just one of at least eight responding deputies, and there was no dash-cam footage shown to the family.
While the exact circumstances of Brown’s death remains unclear, a total of 7 deputies have since been put on administrative leave. A total of 3 deputies have now resigned their positions.