The attorney for a St. Paul police officer fired for shooting an unarmed Black man pushed back on Police Chief Todd Axtell's framing of the encounter, saying the officer had reason to believe the suspect was armed.
Officer Anthony Dean, a six-year veteran of the force, was fired Tuesday for shooting Joseph Javonte Washington, who was wanted in connection with a kidnapping and assault Saturday night.
Axtell denounced Dean's decision to shoot Washington, leaving him wounded. Without naming him, Axtell described Dean's actions as neither reasonable nor necessary. As "police officers, we have a duty to use force only when required," he said, noting that his decision would irreparably change the life of an officer who has "served honorably in the past."
On Wednesday night, Dean's attorney, Robert Paule, argued that the officers' many attempts to de-escalate the situation were not shown in the 42-second clip of body camera footage released to the public.
Axtell did not distribute the video in its entirety; it does show officers deploying Tasers and a K-9 to stop Washington just before shots are fired.
When Washington ran toward police, Dean "discharged his firearm to protect his fellow officers and himself," Paule said, adding that the suspect claimed to have a gun and "had used a knife earlier that evening in a violent assault and rape."
No weapons were visible in the body camera footage and investigators never found any at the scene.
Paule asked that people withhold judgment until the investigation is completed.
