Police in Washington, D.C., have released body-worn camera footage from cops who fatally shot a community activist moments after he crashed into a McDonald’s.
Justin Robinson, 26, looked to have passed out in the driver’s seat of a fast-food restaurant near 2500 Marion Barry Ave. SE before daybreak on September 1.
The shaky footage, released Monday night, showed officers surrounding Robinson’s car with their firearms drawn and shouting directions before gunfire broke out.
Robinson, who police claim was armed, appeared to awaken and raise his torso from a reclining position.
“Hands up, hands up, hands up, hands up!” “Sir, don’t touch the gun!” an officer yells. “”Hands up, hands up, hands up!”
When cops open fire through the window and into Robinson at close range, the driver appears to reach for the officers.
“The individual reaches up; he’s grabbing the officer’s weapon,” said Police Chief Pamela Smith. “And what you will see is there is an exchange of words and the officer disengages [and] discharges his firearm.”
Prosecutors are scrutinizing the case to see if any police were at fault, officials said.
Smith refused to instantly assign responsibility.
“I cannot get into the thought process of the officer,” she told me. “What I would like to be able to do is wait for the results of the investigation to come back to determine what the next steps would be.”
Robinson was a “violence interrupter,” participating in a prosecutor’s program that assists people of high-crime areas in mediating disagreements before they escalate into violent confrontations.
“I don’t think there was any effort to de-escalate the situation,” Brandon Burrell, an attorney for Justin Robinson’s family, told NBC Washington.
Even if Robinson was attempting to steal a gun from an officer, the family’s lawyer argued police should not have put him in that situation.
“I think that would be a natural inclination [to grab the gun] for anyone who is woken up out of their sleep [and] surrounded by multiple officers, firearms pointed at you,” Burrell shared.
The two officers who opened fire have been removed from the streets as the investigation continues.
