Days after protests and demands for transparency in the death of a Minnesota man who authorities say drowned following a police pursuit in Robbinsdale last summer, police have released the body-worn camera footage from three officers who responded.
Police suspected Khalil Ahmad Azad, 24, of Buffalo, was intoxicated while driving early July 3 and attempted to pull him over. He drove the SUV until he crashed near Crystal Lake. He ran from the car, and officers searched for him for more than an hour, which is included in the footage.
Azad's body was found two days later in the lake.
Protesters have doubted that Azad accidentally drowned, as the Hennepin County Medical Examiner concluded.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced Tuesday it will conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
A statement Tuesday from Azad's family and several social justice organizations listed a variety of concerns including alleged inconsistencies with the footage. They also plan to conduct an independent autopsy, after activists raised allegations that police beat him to death.
Family and the groups have been circulating what are described as autopsy photos that show Azad's face swollen from what they allege was a beating by police officers. The autopsy reported that parts of his body were bloated.
"We want to know what exactly happened to Kahlil Ahmad Azad on the night of July 3rd, 2022," the statement says.