The results of a family-commissioned forensic examination into the police killing of Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. have been released.
21-year-old Bradford was shot three times from behind by police, per AL.com, meaning he—as attorneys have argued—"posed no threat" to authorities on the scene. "There is a laceration of the right side of the face at the eyebrow consistent with falling face forward on the right side of the head," civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Monday. 'The cause of death is gunshot wound of the head. The manner of death is homicide."
Crump’s comments at a press conference Monday were preceded within hours by an announcement from Hoover police that body camera and surveillance footage from the fatal police shooting would not be released. The reason given by Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis was "the risk of of compromising the justice process for everyone involved."
Bradford was shot and killed by police at the Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover, Alabama in November. Originally, Hoover police said they had shot and killed the perpetrator of a shooting at the mall. However, it was later revealed that Bradford was not responsible for the shots.
In light of Monday's autopsy findings, Crump is calling for criminal charges against the officer, whose name has not been made public. "We believe, based on this forensic evidence, that this officer should be charged with a crime," he said.
Bradford's killing was the focus of a recent Daily Show segment in which host Trevor Noah wondered why fervent Second Amendment supporters weren't being more outspoken about this shooting.
"From the looks of it, this was a good guy with a gun," Noah said to his audience. "That's what they always say, right? 'The good guy with a gun stops the crime.' But if the good guy with a gun happens to be a black good guy with a gun, they don't get any of the benefits."
