EJ Bradford’s Family Lawyers Make Progress In Shooting Investigation As Questions Linger

Source: social media photo / social media photo

Attorneys for the family of Emantic “E.J.” Bradford appeared to make some promising strides behind the scenes this week as authorities continue to investigate the police shooting that killed the Army veteran in Alabama on Thanksgiving night. They reportedly met with the law enforcement group overseeing the investigation on Friday, one day after being shown a portion of the surveillance video footage of the 21-year-old Black man being killed by police as officers responded to a shooting at the Riverside Galleria in Hoover on Thanksgiving night.

But many other questions lingered from the deadly episode where law enforcement’s missteps prompted a call for an independent investigation in order to achieve justice.

If there was any potential silver lining for Bradford’s family, it was that two top prosecutors involved with the investigation are African-Americans. Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington, who may have a deeper level of understanding and empathy surrounding the shooting and its heavy racial implications, invited Bradford’s family lawyers to see the video Thursday, they told AL.com.

“It was a courtesy to the family and the lawyers,” Carr said. “But also, because we believe in total transparency for this process.”

Hoover is located in Jefferson County.

Details of the video were not immediately available, but at least one civil rights organization was demanding an independent investigation as well as a criminal probe by federal authorities for a number of reasons.

“On behalf of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), I write to you with urgency to request an independent investigation of the fatal shooting of Emantic “E.J.” Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr. on Thanksgiving night, November 22, 2018, by a Hoover Police Department (HPD) officer,” LDF President and Director Counsel Sherrilyn A. Ifill wrote Thursday in a letter addressed to U.S. States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Jay E. Town.

Bradford family lawyer Benjamin Crump on Monday released the results of an independent autopsy showing the Army veteran was shot three times from behind, including once in the head and once in the neck.

“There is a laceration of the right side of the face at the eyebrow consistent with falling face forward on the right side of the head. The cause of death is gunshot wound of the head. The manner of death is homicide,” Crump, who was joined by Bradford’s father at the press conference in Birmingham, said.

“My son was murdered by this officer,” Emantic Bradford, Sr., said in no uncertain terms during a press conference in Birmingham on Monday. “That ain’t training. That’s cowardice.”

Bradford was killed in the chaotic aftermath of the mall shooting when an officer reportedly fired at him on sight, fatally striking him. Authorities immediately announced Bradford was the mall shooter before admitting the avoidable error. At the time when he was killed, Bradford was reportedly brandishing a gun that he was licensed to carry and was helping others to escape the shooting. It turned out that Bradford’s gun was not fired. After Hoover police flubbed, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency took over the investigation and arrested the actual suspect one week after Bradford was killed.

Ifill cited those findings along with how Hoover police bungled the early part of the investigation as further reasons why independent probes were merited.

“The HPD’s initial investigation of that critical incident was riddled with errors, and the release of Mr. Bradford’s autopsy findings on December 3 raises additional questions about the conduct of Hoover police officers that demand answers. Accordingly, we request that you conduct a separate criminal investigation into this matter and consider any credible evidence of Hoover officers’ willful deprivation of civil rights, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242, to determine whether further federal action is necessary,” Ifill wrote.

SEE ALSO:

Attorney For Suspected Alabama Shooter Says, ‘Not Guilty’

EJ Bradford Protesters Call Mayor ‘Accomplice To Murder’

108 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

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108 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

1. Matthew Williams, 35

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2. Daunte Wright, 20

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3. Marvin D. Scott III, 26

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4. Kurt Reinhold, 42

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5. McHale Rose, 19

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6. Xzavier Hill, 18

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7. Frederick Cox, 18

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8. Patrick Warren Sr.

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9. Carl Dorsey III, 39

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10. Dolal Idd, 23

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11. Andre' Hill, 47

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12. Joshua Feast

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13. Maurice Gordon

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14. Casey Goodson Jr.

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15. Rodney Applewhite

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16. A.J. Crooms

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17. Sincere Pierce

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18. Walter Wallace Jr.

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19. Marcellis Stinnette, teen killed by police in Waukegan, Illinois

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20. Jonathan Price

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21. Deon Kay

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22. Daniel Prude

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23. Damian Daniels

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24. Dijon Kizzee

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25. Trayford Pellerin

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26. David McAtee

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27. Natosha “Tony” McDade

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28. George Floyd

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29. Yassin Mohamed

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30. Finan H. Berhe

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31. Sean Reed

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32. Steven Demarco Taylor

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33. Ariane McCree

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34. Terrance Franklin

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35. Miles Hall

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36. Darius Tarver

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37. William Green

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38. Samuel David Mallard, 19

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39. Kwame "KK" Jones, 17

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40. De’von Bailey, 19

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41. Christopher Whitfield, 31

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42. Anthony Hill, 26

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43. De'Von Bailey, 19

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44. Eric Logan, 54

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45. Jamarion Robinson, 26

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46. Gregory Hill Jr., 30

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47. JaQuavion Slaton, 20

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48. Ryan Twyman, 24

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49. Brandon Webber, 20

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50. Jimmy Atchison, 21

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51. Willie McCoy, 20

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52. Emantic "EJ" Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21

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53. D’ettrick Griffin, 18

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54. Jemel Roberson, 26

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55. DeAndre Ballard, 23

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56. Botham Shem Jean, 26

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57. Antwon Rose Jr., 17

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58. Robert Lawrence White, 41

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59. Anthony Lamar Smith, 24

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60. Ramarley Graham, 18

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61. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31

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62. Trayvon Martin, 17

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63. Wendell Allen, 20

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64. Kendrec McDade, 19

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65. Larry Jackson Jr., 32

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66. Jonathan Ferrell, 24

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67. Jordan Baker, 26

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68. Victor White lll, 22

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69. Dontre Hamilton, 31

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70. Eric Garner, 43

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71. John Crawford lll, 22

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72. Michael Brown, 18

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73. Ezell Ford, 25

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74. Dante Parker, 36

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75. Kajieme Powell, 25

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76. Laquan McDonald, 17

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77. Akai Gurley, 28

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78. Tamir Rice, 12

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79. Rumain Brisbon, 34

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80. Jerame Reid, 36

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81. Charly Keunang, 43

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82. Tony Robinson, 19

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83. Walter Scott, 50

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84. Freddie Gray, 25

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85. Brendon Glenn, 29

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86. Samuel DuBose, 43

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87. Christian Taylor, 19

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88. Jamar Clark, 24

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89. Mario Woods, 26

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90. Quintonio LeGrier, 19

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91. Gregory Gunn, 58

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92. Akiel Denkins, 24

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93. Alton Sterling, 37

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94. Philando Castile, 32

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95. Terrence Sterling, 31

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96. Terence Crutcher, 40

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97. Keith Lamont Scott, 43

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98. Alfred Olango, 38

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99. Jordan Edwards, 15

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100. Stephon Clark, 22

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101. Danny Ray Thomas, 34

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102. DeJuan Guillory, 27

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103. Patrick Harmon, 50

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104. Jonathan Hart, 21

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105. Maurice Granton, 24

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106. Julius Johnson, 23

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107. Jamee Johnson, 22

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108. Michael Dean, 28

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Continue reading 108 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

108 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

UPDATED: 7:15 p.m. ET, April 20, 2021 -- The centuries-old American tradition of police shooting and killing Black males suffered an untraditional jolt on Tuesday when former cop Derek Chauvin was found guilty and convicted on all counts for murdering George Floyd by kneeling on the unarmed, handcuffed man's neck for more than nine minutes. https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1384614198282530816?s=20 But the anomaly of a guilty verdict was far from enough to offset the apparent violent rite of police passage that is still thriving in 2021 and only seems to be gaining momentum instead of slowing. It should give any American citizen pause as a steady number of Black people -- especially males both young and old -- continue to be added to a growing list of victims with what seems like a new shooting every week. MORE: #SayHerName: Black Women And Girls Killed By Police Matthew Williams became the most recent Black male killed in an instance of preventable police violence when officers in Georgia said they shot him on April 12, 2021, because he had a knife. However, Williams' family rejects that narrative and has demanded the release of bodycam footage to verify police claims. [caption id="attachment_4139462" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Matthew Williams and his mother. | Source: Twitter[/caption] Williams died in his own home from the shooting. The lawyer re[resenting the family said the police are actively engaged in trying "to cover up killing a man in his own home." Local news outlet 11Alive reported that a witness said Williams was not armed with a knife when he was shot. One of Williams's five sisters said the police narrative is totally out of character for her brother. "My brother was not violent. My brother was not confrontational," Chyah Williams said. "He was the most caring, giving, selfless person you could ever meet." https://twitter.com/ArianaTriggs/status/1382444831910334464?s=20 Williams' killing came one day after a 20-year-old Black man named Daunte Wright was shot and killed during a traffic stop that centered on the number of air fresheners hanging from a car's rearview mirror. Williams and Wright join a long list of other Black men and boys killed by the police, including but certainly not limited to: Tamir Rice; Botham Shem Jean; E.J. Bradford; and Michael Brown. But two of the most recent names that can tragically be included in this deadly equation are Michael Dean, a 28-year-old father who police shot in the head on Dec. 3, 2019, and Jamee Johnson, a 22-year-old HBCU student who police shot to death after a questionable traffic stop on Dec. 14, 2019. One of the most distressing parts of this seemingly nonstop string of police killings of Black people is the fact that more times than not, the officer involved in the shooting can hide behind the claim that they feared for their lives -- even if the victim was shot in the back, as has become the case for so many deadly episodes involving law enforcement. In a handful of those cases -- such as Antwon Rose, a 13-year-old boy killed in Pittsburgh, and Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old killed in Sacramento, both of whom were unarmed -- the officers either avoided being criminally charged altogether or were acquitted despite damning evidence that the cops' lives were not threatened and there was no cause for them to resort to lethal force or any violence for that matter. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been retained in so many of these cases, described the above scenarios in his new book, "Open Season," as the "genocide" of Black people. As NewsOne continues covering these shootings that so often go ignored by mainstream media, the below running list (in no certain order) of Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police under suspicious circumstances can serve as a tragic reminder of the dangers Black and brown citizens face upon being born into a world of hate that has branded them as suspects since birth. Scroll down to learn more about the Black men and boys who have lost their lives to police violence.

EJ Bradford’s Family Lawyers Make Progress In Shooting Investigation As Questions Linger  was originally published on newsone.com