Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Friday he would release police body-camera footage of the shooting of Thurman Blevins by the end of the month.
Mayor Frey says video in Blevins shooting will be released this month
Family, protesters demand police bodycam footage be made public even sooner.
July 30, 2018 at 12:47PM
The statement came hours after he met with members of Blevins' family, who subsequently protested outside the mayor's office and demanded the immediate release of the video.
Blevins, 31, was shot and killed June 23 by Minneapolis police officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt, who had responded to a 911 call that a man was firing a handgun, authorities said. Frey announced three days later that he would release the video from body cameras worn by the officers after the family was consulted and key witnesses were interviewed by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is investigating the shooting.
"My team and I have communicated with the family of Thurman Blevins and pressed the BCA to provide timely updates as their investigation progresses," Frey said in a statement Friday. "At this point, I can say with confidence that the video footage will be released by the end of July."
Earlier Friday, Sydnee Brown, a second cousin of Blevins, demanded that the "unaltered, unedited and unabbreviated" video be released immediately.
"We gave the mayor and his assistant way too much time," she said, adding that the family demands that the video be released by Monday or there will be "further consequences."
Frey met in private with Brown and two other relatives of Blevins on Friday before the protest at City Hall. Brown said the mayor did not set a date for when he planned to make the video available.
"But the Justice for June Committee will make sure that the tapes will be released as soon as possible," she said, referring to the group of about 20 protesters formed to honor Blevins, who often went by "Junior" or "June."
Protesters also demanded that Kelly and Schmidt, who were placed on paid administrative leave, be prosecuted.
"We do not believe that there was any circumstance that would have justified shooting June," Brown said.
Katie Galioto • 612-673-4706
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