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Shot in 1.6 seconds: Video raises questions about how trooper avoided charges in Black man's death
Last edited Tue Jun 25, 2024, 07:47 AM - Edit history (1)
https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trooper-shooting-black-man-julian-lewis-e5ac7de893189c11c88137fe9b81829e
(video, photos, links, at source)
Shot in 1.6 seconds: Video raises questions about how trooper avoided charges in Black man’s death
Never-before-released dash camera video and details obtained by The Associated Press are raising questions about the fatal shooting of a Black motorist by a Georgia state trooper nearly four years ago.
BY RUSS BYNUM AND JIM MUSTIAN
Updated 12:09 AM EDT, June 25, 2024
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Julian Lewis didn’t pull over for the Georgia State Patrol cruiser flashing its blue lights behind him on a rural highway. He still didn’t stop after pointing a hand out the window and turning onto a darkened dirt road as the trooper sounded his siren.
Five minutes into a pursuit that began over a broken taillight, the 60-year-old Black man was dead — shot in the forehead by the white trooper who fired a single bullet mere seconds after forcing Lewis to crash into a ditch. Trooper Jake Thompson insisted he pulled the trigger as Lewis revved the engine of his Nissan Sentra and jerked his steering wheel as if trying to mow him down.
[...]
But new investigative details obtained by The Associated Press and the never-before-released dashcam video of the August 2020 shooting have raised fresh questions about how the trooper avoided prosecution with nothing more than a signed promise never to work in law enforcement again. Use-of-force experts who reviewed the footage for AP said the shooting appeared to be unjustified.
[...]
Footage of the pursuit has never been made public. It was first obtained by the authors of a new book about race and economic inequality titled “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap.” Louise Story and Ebony Reed shared the video with AP, which verified its authenticity and obtained additional documents under Georgia’s open-records law.
[...]
Never-before-released dash camera video and details obtained by The Associated Press are raising questions about the fatal shooting of a Black motorist by a Georgia state trooper nearly four years ago.
BY RUSS BYNUM AND JIM MUSTIAN
Updated 12:09 AM EDT, June 25, 2024
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Julian Lewis didn’t pull over for the Georgia State Patrol cruiser flashing its blue lights behind him on a rural highway. He still didn’t stop after pointing a hand out the window and turning onto a darkened dirt road as the trooper sounded his siren.
Five minutes into a pursuit that began over a broken taillight, the 60-year-old Black man was dead — shot in the forehead by the white trooper who fired a single bullet mere seconds after forcing Lewis to crash into a ditch. Trooper Jake Thompson insisted he pulled the trigger as Lewis revved the engine of his Nissan Sentra and jerked his steering wheel as if trying to mow him down.
[...]
But new investigative details obtained by The Associated Press and the never-before-released dashcam video of the August 2020 shooting have raised fresh questions about how the trooper avoided prosecution with nothing more than a signed promise never to work in law enforcement again. Use-of-force experts who reviewed the footage for AP said the shooting appeared to be unjustified.
[...]
Footage of the pursuit has never been made public. It was first obtained by the authors of a new book about race and economic inequality titled “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap.” Louise Story and Ebony Reed shared the video with AP, which verified its authenticity and obtained additional documents under Georgia’s open-records law.
[...]