![]() ![]() The Minnesota Justice Coalition provides non-litigatory services for family members affected by issues of police misconduct. The investigation is still underway.Īt a news conference Friday, Minnesota Justice Coalition President Johnathon McClellan questioned why law enforcement would not want to release footage if they believe their actions were justified, saying law enforcement may have something to hide. Local district attorneys don’t have the legal power to prosecute federal agents, and the Justice Department can shield them from litigation.Įarly stages of the BCA investigation found evidence Smith fired his weapon from inside the vehicle the BCA reported crime scene personnel “recovered a handgun as well as spent cartridge cases from inside the driver’s compartment.” It’s still unclear whether the gun was fired during this encounter or not. According to an investigation by USA Today and The Marshall Project, no marshal has been prosecuted after a shooting as of 2020. Marshals and task force members are even more difficult to hold accountable than average police officers if something goes wrong. ![]() In addition to more lax rules on body cameras, the U.S. The task force involved with Smith’s death had not yet implemented the new policy. In February of this year, the Marshals Service began to “phase-in” the policy, according to the U.S. In October 2020, the Department of Justice issued a policy that would permit TFOs to wear body cameras on federal task forces. ![]() Marshals’ authorities such as being able to cross jurisdictional lines and, as in this case, refrain from wearing body cameras. While on the task force TFOs can exercise U.S. Task force officers (TFOs) are state and local law enforcement officers who receive “special deputations” from the U.S. Marshalls Service officers fired shots during the attempted arrest. Attorney’s Office, the Task Force includes members of local, state and federal law enforcement who team up to “arrest the state’s most violent fugitives.”Īccording to a preliminary investigation, the BCA said that “at one point a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy and a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy serving on the task force discharged their weapons, striking the man.” No official statements have confirmed whether U.S. Marshals team responsible for Smith’s death is called the Northstar Fugitive Task Force. Smith was also charged with fleeing police in Hennepin County last year. Smith was also charged in Ramsey County with illegally possessing a firearm in 2019. In most cases, federal law bans those who have been convicted of felonies from possessing firearms. Smith was convicted in 2017 in the assault and robbery of his ex-girlfriend and sentenced to two years in prison, but the sentence was stayed for three years, provided he didn’t break the law. Marshals were involved in Smith’s case because he had been convicted of a violent felony in the past and had a warrant out for illegal possession of a firearm. Winston Smith, Jr.According to the information currently available, the U.S. Marshals do not wear body cameras, and they prohibit local cops on their task force from wearing them. But that won’t be coming in this case: The U.S. In other recent police killings, footage from body cameras worn by officers has played a critical role in showing what happened. Speakers at a press conference Friday asked for anyone who has cellphone footage footage at the shooting to come forward with it, but no video footage of the incident has been released yet. Members of the task force “made contact with him” on the top level of the parking ramp in Uptown “in an attempt to take him into custody.” According to the BCA, “at one point a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy and a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy serving on the task force discharged their weapons, striking the man.” Smith died at the scene. Marshals’ joint North Star Fugitive Task Force were alerted to the location of a man who had a warrant out for a felony firearms violation. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is leading the investigation in this case, said law enforcement members serving on the U.S. Marshals Service task force as they attempted to arrest the 32-year-old Black man. was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Thursday by officers involved with a U.S. ![]()
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