MINNEAPOLIS – Friends and family demanded answers one day after a Black man was shot and killed by members of a fugitive task force in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, while state investigators say he fired a gun from inside his vehicle — although there is no law enforcement footage of the incident.
Details came among community grief over the Thursday death of Winston Boogie Smith, 32, another Black man killed by law enforcement in Minnesota. On Friday a group gathered to demand justice while gathered across the street from Stella's Fish Cafe, where the 32 year-old Smith had enjoyed a final meal before authorities tried to arrest him for being a felon in possession of a gun Thursday afternoon.
"We want to see that footage of what actually happened," said Kidale Smith, his brother.
Smith's death brought another wave of protests to the city, where nine were arrested overnight Thursday for property damage in Uptown, police said.
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting, said Thursday that members of U.S. Marshals Service task force approached the suspect, now known to be Smith, who was in a parked car atop a parking ramp at West Lake Street and South Fremont Avenue.
Authorities said task force members were tipped off to the location of a man wanted on a warrant for a weapons charge and tried to arrest him. A preliminary investigation shows that at some point, a Hennepin County sheriff's deputy and a Ramsey County sheriff's deputy shot Smith, who they said brandished a gun, killing him. Authorities say they recovered a handgun and spent shell casings inside Smith's car, suggesting that he fired a weapon, although the precise sequence of events wasn't immediately known. On Thursday, a statement from the U.S. Marshal's office said Smith "failed to comply and produced a handgun."
A 27-year-old woman in the passenger seat was injured by shattered glass. Photos of the scene show the rear windshield of a silver SUV shot out, with what appear to be bullet holes in the passenger side windows.
Authorities said there is no squad camera footage of the incident. The deputies involved also weren't wearing body cameras, because they were operating under the rules of federal law enforcement agencies, which don't allow the devices, according to the BCA news release. However, the Department of Justice announced last October changed its policy to permit state, local, territorial and tribal task forces to use body-worn cameras "while serving arrest warrants, or during other planned arrest operations, and during the execution of search warrants."
Asked about the policy change, Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bruce Gordon referred questions to the U.S. Marshals, who did not respond to a request for comment.
The Marshals Service said many agencies were involved in the original operation, including officers from the Hennepin, Anoka and Ramsey county sheriff's offices and the federal Department of Homeland Security. Minneapolis police played no role.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Nikki Credic-Barrett said the personnel involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.
She also said Smith was wanted on a Ramsey County warrant on a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Records show the warrant was issued after he failed to appear for sentence in Ramsey County District Court on May 19. He had been charged with two felonies in November 2019 when officers found him at an apartment in White Bear Lake. At that time, he had a Hennepin County warrant for violating the terms of his probation for an aggravated robbery conviction for a 2017 incident involving his ex-girlfriend.
Officers arrested Smith at the apartment and found a 9mm handgun with a round in the chamber under the driver's seat of his Camaro, the complaint said. As a felon, he was prohibited from owning a gun. Smith also faced a felony charge of fleeing police scheduled for trial in September.
A year ago, Bloomington police tried to arrest Smith on the two warrants after recognizing him in a Mall of America parking lot. When Smith saw the officers, he took off quickly at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour with multiple police cars chasing him with lights and sirens on, according to court documents.
When Smith entered Highway 494 driving in the wrong direction, police ended the pursuit because of public safety concerns, according to court documents. He was charged with fleeing police, a felony, and was scheduled for trial in Hennepin County in September.
Kidale Smith said Friday that his brother had not been a perfect man, but he was trying to live his life and authorities ambushed him without giving him any time to surrender.
"This man had a family and he's just like anybody else," he said.
Smith's shooting bears a striking resemblance to the Dec. 30, 2020, police killing of Dolal Idd at a south Minneapolis gas station. Minneapolis police were conducting a gun sting operation when Idd attempted to flee, and then fired at police through the driver's side window of his vehicle, prompting officers to return fire, according to body camera footage released a day after the incident
On Friday, a picture of Smith's recent life was coming into focus.
He had built a small local following for his online comedy sketches. In a recent video, posted by notable local comedian Steff Weezy, Smith played the role of a Door Dash driver "in the 'hood" who was eating the food he was supposed to deliver.
"Bro, I've been trying a lot of food, I've been trying pizza, like ice cream, everything; bro, I've been trying a lot of new spots, this is a good job," he quips on the video.
While little is yet known about the events that precipitated the shooting, Smith's social media accounts offered a glimpse of his final minutes. The last video he posted on Snapchat showed him eating an appetizer of Cajun beef bites at Stella's Fish Café. A woman was sitting across the table from him, but her face wasn't shown. The time stamp shows the video was recorded about 2 p.m. Minutes later, he was dead.
Overnight, friends and relatives began posting tributes and photos of Smith on social media. In one undated picture, he is seen with civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Those who knew Smith recalled him as a charismatic, friendly father of three who was working to become a comedian.
"He was always a lively person ... somebody who just wanted to make you laugh," said Beatrice Barber, his cousin. She added that he tried to make the world better using laughter, and "that's going to be one of the things that people remember most about him: his energy and his positiveness."
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(Star Tribune staff writers Andy Mannix and Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.)
