RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Family members of Andrew Brown Jr. say new body camera video confirms what they've been saying about his fatal shooting by sheriff's deputies last month. Brown was a 42-year-old Black man who died in Elizabeth City, N.C., while deputies were carrying out an arrest warrant.
Chantel Cherry-Lassiter is an attorney for the family.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHANTEL CHERRY-LASSITER: Let's be clear. This was a unjustifiable shooting. We will seek justice for Andrew Brown Jr.
MARTIN: She was with Brown's family members yesterday as they viewed more body camera footage from that day. Here's NPR's Sarah McCammon.
SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: Just over two weeks ago, family members of Andrew Brown Jr. were shown a 20-second clip from a single body camera. They described what they saw as an execution, carried out by Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies. Yesterday, some of Brown's family members were allowed to view about 20 additional minutes from five body cameras and one dashcam recorded at the scene.
Khalil Ferebee is his oldest son.
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KHALIL FEREBEE: The video I seen last week - it's pretty much the same as what I've seen today, just a few more details. But he wasn't in the wrong at all. What's in the dark going to come to the light.
MCCAMMON: Another son who watched the footage, Jha'rod Ferebee (ph), said Brown did nothing to justify the shooting.
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JHA'ROD FEREBEE: My father did not deserve to die at all. He did not deserve to get killed in any way, shape or form. He did not pose any threat at all.
MCCAMMON: Attorneys for Brown's family say the video confirms he was never a threat to sheriff's deputies, that he was unarmed and that his hands were always visible.
Attorney Chance Lynch described the shooting in Brown's car as an ambush.
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CHANCE LYNCH: At no point did we see Mr. Brown pose a threat to the law enforcement officers that were there. I would suggest to you that it was absolutely and unequivocally unjustified.
MCCAMMON: That's a direct contradiction of statements by the district attorney, Andrew Womble, who said in court recently that Brown's car made contact with deputies. He also accused other members of the legal team of misrepresenting what was on the previous tape. Outside the government building where the family viewed the footage, several dozen protesters gathered, holding signs and chanting.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Release the tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Release the tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: The real tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: The real tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: The whole tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: The whole tape.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: The real tape.
MCCAMMON: They're calling for the public release of all the body camera footage, which officials say adds up to about two hours. A local judge has said the release of that footage should be delayed several weeks while a state investigation continues.
Frederick Godfrey, a Black man in his 50s who lives in Elizabeth City, listened as the Brown family described what they'd seen. He says police have too much power and too little accountability.
FREDERICK GODFREY: I've been in the situation where they tell me, put my hands up, freeze. I got to talk them down to ask them, which one you want me to do? And it ain't pretty, look down the barrel of a gun when your life is on the line, could be ended in one second, you know?
MCCAMMON: Godfrey says he wants local officials to recuse themselves from this case. Meanwhile, Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten released a video statement pointing out that his deputies had offered medical care to Brown after shooting him and expressing condolences to the family.
Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Elizabeth City, N.C.
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