Robert Tufano, a spokesperson for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, told The Intercept in an email that “the practice of ‘kettling’ is prohibited under the department’s standard operation procedures.” Tufano added that the practice was “not specifically banned” before June 2, 2020, but the guidelines on civil emergency standard operating procedures were since updated to include the ban. Still, the prohibition on kettling is not written into any of the department’s publicly available policies. When asked for clarification, Tufano shared internal guidelines stating that riot control agents, like tear gas, “will not be used to intentionally corral or contain crowds.”
“When a dispersal order is given, the dispersal order and egress routes will be audibly communicated repeatedly, loudly and clearly to the crowd and over the police radio,” Tufano added, citing the new policy. “Designated egress routes will not be intentionally blocked by RCAs or phys
A grave injustice in Elizabeth City
Published 8:05 a.m. today
There are a lot of reasons for caring and thinking people to be deeply troubled by the events surrounding the killing of Andrew Brown, Jr. by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies. At least five big ones stand out.
First, before one even gets to the matter of the shooting itself, is the matter of why a huge cadre of heavily armed officers was dispatched to arrest a man on a drug charge. In a nation that is finally coming to grips with the counter-productiveness and futility of its disastrous, decades-long “war on drugs,” the question needs to be posed: what was Brown accused of that was so horrific that it became a matter of life and death to arrest him? And, indeed, should it have even been considered a serious crime? Had Brown been accused of a violent crime murder, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery perhaps such massive armed brigade would have made more sense. But a drug offense? One has to wonder.
Charlotte community leaders are responding to District Attorney Andrew Womble’s decision not to charge the deputies who shot and killed Andrew Brown, Jr in Elizabeth City.
North Carolina prosecutor says police were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown
By Nathan Layne and Barbara Goldberg
Reuters
(Reuters) -A North Carolina prosecutor will not bring criminal charges against sheriff s deputies for the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown, a Black man, outside his home last month, saying on Tuesday that the killing was justified because Brown endangered their lives by driving toward them.
Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble said he had concluded his investigation and found no wrongdoing by the deputies, despite calls for prosecution by lawyers for Brown s family, who described his death as an execution.
Brown, 42, was shot as he resisted arrest and tried to speed off in his car during a morning raid at his home on April 21 in Elizabeth City, a riverfront community where just over half of the roughly 18,000 residents are Black.
Pasquotank County’s District Attorney Andrew Womble announced at a press conference Tuesday that he will not charge the three sheriff’s deputies involved in killing Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City on April 21. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten announced later that the three deputies, though keeping their positions, will be disciplined and retrained.
Womble said he came to his conclusion after reviewing evidence turned over by the State Bureau of Investigation. An SBI press release indicates that the agency provided crime scene analysis and interviews of witnesses to the prosecutor, who has the authority to press charges.
Deputies in the Pasquotank County sheriff’s office arrived at Brown’s residence to serve two felony arrest warrants and a search warrant on the morning of April 21. Womble said deputies blocked Brown’s parked car next to his house to prevent Brown, seated in his vehicle, from driving forward.