North Carolina civil rights leaders need federal probe into sheriff, district lawyer over Andrew Brown taking pictures | Nation

ELIZABETH CITY, NC – State and local civil rights activists will be sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding a civil rights investigation into the Andrew Brown shooting.

“An arrest warrant is not a license to kill,” said William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach, a civil rights nonprofit based in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Barber spoke to about a dozen media members and a handful of viewers at a press conference in Elizabeth City on Friday. He was joined by the North Carolina NAACP President T. Anthony Spearman and the Pasquotank County NAACP President Keith Rivers.

The letter, which was delivered to the media on Friday, calls for a civil rights investigation into the “patterns and practice” of the offices of District Attorney Andrew Womble and Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten. Proponents seek an examination of the activities of both offices to determine whether they are wrongly targeting minorities and low-income communities.

The community is experiencing “mounting tension and distrust” of the sheriff’s office and the district attorney, according to the letter.

The civil rights groups also want the ongoing FBI investigation into the shootings to be “accelerated”.

Barber urged local supporters and preachers to get 1,000 signatures for the letter, which would be delivered by a group, possibly by bus, traveling to Washington in June.

Brown was shot dead on April 21 by Pasquotank County Sheriff MPs who were trying to search for drugs and arrest Brown on pending Dare County charges. Three of the seven officers at the scene fired 14 shots at Brown as he tried to escape arrest by attempting to drive across vacant lot next to his Elizabeth City home. A shattered bullet hit the back of the head and killed him. Another shot hit him in the right arm.

Womble called Tuesday’s shooting justified and said MPs would not be charged.

Spearman criticized Womble’s decision at the press conference.

“Sorry Womble, we don’t see what you see,” he said.

Wooten said Tuesday that MPs will keep their jobs but admitted they made mistakes and would receive more advanced tactical training.