WASHINGTON — The judge who ruled earlier this week to keep body camera footage private in the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, shooting case has a history of pro-law enforcement and anti-media posts on his Facebook page.
Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies April 21 in his car outside his Elizabeth City home. The deputies were there to serve felony drug charge warrants on Brown.
North Carolina Superior Court Judge Jeffery B. Foster ruled Wednesday, saying the media did not have standing in the case, but even if it did, “good cause does not exist” to make the bodycam video public. A 2016 law gives judges authority over the public release of body camera and dashboard camera footage.
Protesters, Brown’s family and many Democratic politicians have called for the footage to be released. The sheriff’s office and the county also argued for the release of the video. The Pasquotank County district attorney did not want the footage released.
Brown’s family has seen 20 seconds of video, and Foster ruled that one of Brown’s sons, some immediate family members and one attorney could see more of the video soon, but that officers’ identifying information must be blurred or redacted first. They will not be allowed to make copies of the video or have their own copy.
Foster, an East Carolina University alum who graduated from Campbell University law school, was elected in 2016, running unopposed for his seat. He was first appointed to the seat earlier that year by then-Gov. Pat McCrory.
Foster is a registered Republican, who regularly votes in the primaries and general elections, according to North Carolina’s voter database.
The Root first reported on some of Foster’s social media posts.
On Sept. 10, 2020, Foster posted a temporary profile picture of a thin blue line over a sheriff’s badge from Henderson County. That day, Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hendrix, 35, had been shot and killed by a suspect, who also died.
In May 2020, Foster posted a link to a news story about a Raleigh police officer being shot during a robbery attempt.
“When you work with, get to know, and become friends with law enforcement officers these stories make your heart stop for a moment. Thank God the officer is ok. These LEO’s risk their lives every day to keep us safe. God bless all of our law enforcement officers. Thank you all for what you do every day,” Foster wrote in the post.
In April 2020, Foster posted a meme with a photo of media members asking probing questions about Pearl Harbor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The meme is captioned: “If FDR had to deal with a press corp like President Trump’s.” Foster wrote: “I’m just gonna leave this here.”
In 2010, he wrote: “I’m constantly amazed at how moronic the press is,” referring to a headline about Mexico’s president complaining about an Arizona law to President Barack Obama.
Foster’s Facebook feed is a fairly typical one — a mix of family photos, travel pictures, sports takes and memes. It contains many photographs taken by him of birds and other natural sights, many marked with a stylish photo signature.
In one post, he writes about his daughter looking for babysitting gigs. In another, he shares a photo of him as a young boy with his mother “in honor of Mother’s Day week.”
The feed also includes some anti-mask rhetoric, including a meme with reimagined Queen lyrics about not wearing a mask.
“The anti-maskers getting creative. I love this,” Foster wrote.
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Foster wrote in an exchange with someone on his page that “every year the flu kills more people than have died from COVID-19.”
Another post expresses his admiration for G. Gordon Liddy, calling him a “badass.” Liddy was convicted for his role in the Watergate scandal.
Another from April 6 shares a TV screen grab about Coca-Cola requiring photo ID for its shareholder meeting. The company has earned scorn from the right for its stance against recently passed voting laws in Georgia.
“Hypocrisy,” Foster writes.
Before he was a judge, Foster offered his thoughts on other cases. He said George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin in Florida but was found not guilty of criminal charges, “should have never been charged. The jury did the right thing. Fox News got it right again.”
Seven Pasquotank County law enforcement officers were put on leave after the Andrew Brown shooting. Four have been reinstated after a preliminary investigation found they did not fire their guns. Three remain on leave pending further investigation.
