Video and witness statements related to shooting death of Brandon Tate-Brown shown to civilians, ambiguity lingers.
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Apparently, not much is visible in the three videos that captured Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown’s last moments alive.
What is seen, however, is a man on a bicycle who was positioned within earshot of the officer’s questioning of Mr. Tate-Brown, and who testified to hearing Mr. Tate-Brown acknowledge he had a gun, said Mr. Kelvyn Anderson, Executive Director, Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission, who along with a handful of community leaders today reviewed the video and witness statements related to the December 15th officer-involved shooting.
“Everybody assumes the video shows so much… The video by itself tells you nothing… The video without witness statements causes more confusion,” he reveals in an exclusive interview withTechbook Online, moments after he published his report, which stress that “the Commission has reached no formal conclusions or judgment with regard to this incident, which is still an open investigation by the police and District Attorney’s office.”
Mr. Anderson said though he’s also noticed inconsistencies – and, additionally, doesn’t understand why the officer who was involved in the shooting isn’t still on desk duty, given the case is still active – he would suggest the public not immediately jump to the conclusion that its a cover up.
“It could be just a chaotic toss off,” says Mr. Anderson, referring to the fact that the Medical Examiner, at the time the autopsy was performed, hadn’t spoken with the officers, but instead, maybe just communicated with a first responder who relayed a message different than what police reported to the media. “We are looking at that with a hard eye,” he adds, as he prepared to speak with the City’s law department.
Mr. Greg Brinkley, one half of the private investigating team hired by Mildenberg Law Firm, P.C. to look into the circumstances surrounding the fatal officer-involved shooting, dismisses Mr. Anderson’s call to not jump to conclusions.
“It’s a cover up and the truth will come out,” said Mr. Brinkley, who took great offense to Lt. John Stanford calling the 7-11 surveillance footage that shows Mr. Tate-Brown’s headlights on irrelevant.
Mr. Anderson, however, disagrees.
“The video from the 7-11 is nearly fifteen minutes before the stop,” he says, “that doesn’t mean the lights were on fifteen minutes later.”
Mr. Anderson, who spent two hours reviewing the video and witness statements, said in one video, as you see Mr. Tate-Brown’s car approach, the lights are very dim… not as bright as they were at the 7-11.
“The lights are on, but not at the level where it’s spreading to the ground.”
There were also four witness statements, including one from a first responder and one from the man on the bicycle.
“Witness statements are pretty concise” with what police reported, Mr. Anderson tells me, though he doesn’t consider this matter concluded, nor is he going to rule at this moment whether the shooting was justified or not.
He will, however, acknowledge the “extraordinary moment” he’s witnessing, in terms of the “level of candor” surrounding this incident.
“I don’t recall any other shooting that’s been vetted in the public to this degree… And this case deserves to be vetted as thoroughly as possible. And what we’re seeing right now is a change in how the public is given information.”
Mr. Anderson said being allowed to view the footage was a result of both the police department’s desire to be transparent and intense public pressure. He hopes that the agency will one day release witness statements around officer-involved shootings, among other critical information.
“That level of exposure may give the public a better sense of what occurred… But I’ll take the position I’ve taken since day one, I think that when reports are completed, they should be made public.”
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