ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — State and local civil rights leaders will deliver a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for a civil rights investigation into the Andrew Brown shooting.
“A warrant is not a license to kill,” said William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach, a not-for-profit civil rights organization based in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
Barber spoke before about a dozen media members and a handful of onlookers at a press conference Friday in Elizabeth City. He was joined by North Carolina NAACP President T. Anthony Spearman and Pasquotank County NAACP President Keith Rivers.
The letter, provided to the media Friday, calls for a “pattern and practice” civil rights investigation into District Attorney Andrew Womble and Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten’s offices. The advocates are seeking a probe into both offices’ operations to determine if they unfairly target minorities and low-income communities.
The community, according to the letter, is experiencing “increasing tensions and rising distrust” with the sheriff’s office and the district attorney.
The civil rights groups also want the ongoing FBI investigation into the shooting to be “expedited.”
Barber called on local supporters and preachers to get 1,000 signatures for the letter that would be delivered by a group, possibly by bus, traveling to Washington in June.
Brown was shot and killed April 21 by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies who were attempting to search for drugs and arrest Brown on outstanding charges from Dare County. Three of the seven officers at the scene fired 14 shots at Brown as he attempted to escape arrest by trying to drive across a vacant lot next to his Elizabeth City home. One fragmented bullet struck him in the back of the head, killing him. One other shot struck him in the right arm.
Womble called the shooting justified Tuesday and said the deputies would not be charged.
Spearman criticized Womble’s decision at the news conference.
“Sorry, Womble, we don’t see what you see,” he said.
Wooten said Tuesday the deputies will keep their jobs, but acknowledged they made mistakes and would get more advanced tactical training.
