April 12--A video contradicts a Los Angeles police officer's claim that he fatally shot an unarmed homeless man in Venice last year because the man was grabbing his partner's gun holster, according to police records made public Tuesday.
The recording, taken from a bar security camera, does not show Brendon Glenn's hand "on or near any portion" of the partner's holster, according to a report from LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to the city's Police Commission. The officer's partner told investigators he never felt "any jerking movements" near his gun, the report added.
The commission unanimously sided with Beck on Tuesday, concluding that Officer Clifford Proctor violated department policy when he fatally shot Glenn in the back near the Venice boardwalk. The panel and Beck also faulted Proctor's decision to draw his weapon, along with the tactics he and his partner used leading up to the deadly encounter.
The decision caps an 11-month review of the May 5 shooting, one of several by LAPD officers last year that fueled criticism of police and how officers use force, particularly against African Americans. Glenn, 29, was black, as is Proctor.
The LAPD's investigation into Glenn's death took a rare public turn earlier this year, when Beck revealed that he had recommended that L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey criminally charge Proctor. It was the first time as chief that Beck had called for charges against one of his officers in a fatal on-duty shooting.
Prosecutors are still reviewing the case, a district attorney's spokeswoman said Tuesday. Such charges are rare in Los Angeles, where prosecutors haven't charged a law enforcement officer in an on-duty shooting since 2001.
LAPD investigators concluded that Glenn was on his stomach, attempting to push himself off the ground, when Proctor stepped back and opened fire, Beck previously said. Proctor's partner, the chief added earlier this year, told investigators that he did not know why the officer opened fire.
According to the report released Tuesday, Proctor told investigators that Glenn's left hand was on his partner's holster as they struggled on the ground.
"Everything was happening so fast," Proctor was quoted as saying. "And everybody's hands were flailing around."
Proctor fired a shot but said that he didn't see Glenn react. Proctor admitted that he then had "a little tunnel vision" and fired a second shot.
"I don't really know where his hands were but he is still holding on," Proctor told investigators, the report said. The officer said his partner "was still fighting with him. What was going through my mind when I fired the second shot was I honestly believed that this guy was on something strong, like some kind of drug. And the first round did absolutely nothing to affect him. He didn't move."
The names of the officers were redacted from a copy of the report that was made public, but the LAPD previously identified Proctor as the officer who opened fire.
Beck said in his report to the commission that the evidence examined in the case "does not independently support" Proctor's claim that Glenn was trying to take his partner's gun. Proctor's partner, the report added, never made "any statements or actions that would have suggested" Glenn was trying to take the weapon.
The video that captured the struggle and shooting was taken from the Townhouse bar. The video has not been made public.
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The deadly encounter began shortly before midnight, when Proctor and his partner went to Windward Avenue near the famed Venice boardwalk after police received a complaint that a homeless man was harassing customers outside a building, the LAPD said.
The officers briefly talked to the man -- later identified as Glenn -- and returned to their patrol car after he walked toward the boardwalk, police said.
Soon after, the LAPD said, the officers saw Glenn struggling with a bouncer outside a nearby bar. The officers tried to detain Glenn, police said, leading to a "physical altercation" that ended when Proctor opened fire.
Almost immediately, the LAPD drew criticism over the deadly shooting. Activists and friends of Glenn packed a town hall meeting days after the shooting, angrily complaining about police officers' use of deadly force and how they interact with homeless Angelenos.
Glenn's family has filed two wrongful death lawsuits, saying his killing "was completely unjustified."
Follow @katemather for more LAPD news.
