Elizabeth City, North Carolina officials declared a state of emergency Monday ahead of the possible public release of body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. during a drug-related warrant executed by sheriff’s deputies last week.
Brown’s family and their attorneys were expected to be privately shown the video at the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office Monday morning and hold a news conference immediately following.
Ben Crump, the high-profile civil rights attorney who secured the $27 million civil lawsuit in Minneapolis for the family of George Floyd, as well as attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Brown’s relatives, will be present.
FAST FACTS
- Brown, 43, was fatally shot as sheriff’s deputies were executing search and arrest warrants on April 22, 2021.
- The search warrant for Brown’s home in Elizabeth City states that a drug task force had been watching him for more than a year and had confidential information from an informant about buying crack, meth and heroin.
Brown, 43, was fatally shot as sheriff’s deputies were executing search and arrest warrants on April 22, 2021.
The search warrant for Brown’s home in Elizabeth City states that a drug task force had been watching him for more than a year and had confidential information from an informant about buying crack, meth and heroin.
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools will operate on a full remote schedule for all students and staff through Friday “due to the continuously evolving state of civil unrest in our local community and under the advisement of our local law enforcement partners.”
As of Monday morning, the National Guard has not been requested and there are no curfews set in place at this time, WAVY reported. North Carolina state Rep. Howard Hunter, a Democrat representing the area, told the outlet that Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II has petitioned the court Monday for the public release of the body-camera footage.
Elizabeth City Mayor Bettie Parker said law enforcement anticipated a period of civil unrest after the release and the state of emergency order helps mobilize state and federal resources.