Alabama police suggest black man killed by officer shouldn't have held his gun
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
HOOVER, Ala. — Police in Alabama promised transparency Monday after a weekend of protests in response to an officer fatally shooting a black man who pulled out his legally permitted weapon following gunfire at a shopping mall.
Hoover Police initially described the officer as "heroic" for bringing down Emantic "EJ" Bradford Jr. after two people were wounded at the Riverchase Galleria mall outside Birmingham Thanksgiving night. Then they retracted the statement , saying it's "unlikely" Bradford was involved.
"We can say with certainty Mr. Bradford brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene," the statement from the city of Hoover and its police department says.
(Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr. posing for a picture at his father's home near Birmingham, Alabama, in his senior year of high school. Emantic Bradford Sr via AP)
"We extend sympathy to the family of Emantic J. Bradford of Hueytown, who was shot and killed during Hoover Police efforts to secure the scene in the seconds following the original altercation and shooting. The loss of human life is a tragedy under any circumstances," the statement said.
Bradford's parents appeared on CNN later Monday morning, saying police still haven't spoken with them. They want to see body-camera video, and they've hired a civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, to help them.
"It doesn't matter if you're a good guy with a gun, if you're black the police shoot and kill you and ask questions later," Crump said.
The Monday police statement says "body camera video and other available video was immediately turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department as part of the investigation. Now, all evidence has been handed over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to lead the investigation. Release of any video will be done as ALEA deems appropriate during the investigation."
Via NBC News
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Brings about a new aspect in the gun debate. For those that say people carrying guns would make a place safer or could stop a shooting.
This young man probably thought exactly that. That he could pull his gun and maybe stop the shooter. Sadly the police ended his life.
Besides the police lying and twisting themselves to justify what they have done, when they arrive on the scene, they don't know who the shooter is.
Anyone that thinks they could brandish a weapon and help the situation, could find themselves in this position.
But some members of society want all of us to be armed...ya know....so we can stop bad guys with guns
The subtext of their pro-gun mantra "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun" is "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a white good guy with a gun". They don't want to admit it, but that's what the facts spell out.
I agree (it is Alabama) but I have to wonder. If the police arrived to a shooting call and found a scruffy looking white man brandishing a weapon, and he was shot and killed as the perceived threat, it blows away the narrative that people being armed in these situations has helped in any way.
Not defending their actions, yet they come into a situation and don't know who is doing what.
Nothing is more scary than a black person with a gun. Isn't that why raygun got open carry repealed in cali? Because the Black Panthers were legally carrying guns?
Bingo