E.J. Bradford’s parents, Bradford family attorney Ben Crump, the ACLU of Alabama, and Alabama NAACP sued the attorney general of Alabama and Hoover Police Department for release of body camera footage, surveillance footage, and documents regarding the tragic shooting of E.J. Bradford, including release of the officers’ names.
Bradford was a Black man who according to witnesses was trying to protect people during an active shooting at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama. An unnamed Hoover Police Department officer shot Bradford three times from behind without warning, killing him. In February, Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a report declining to prosecute the police officer, concluding that the officer’s actions were “justified and not criminal.”
The coalition is filing the lawsuit to obtain a complete response to their February 20 Public Records Request for the release of video footage, names of the officers involved, documents related to the attorney general’s decision to assert jurisdiction over the investigation, and the documents the attorney general reviewed in the investigation. Attorney General Marshall responded to that request by refusing to produce videos, documents, and even the names of officers. He asserted, among other reasons, that disclosing any information would “negatively impact…the personal safety of law enforcement officials.”
Documents
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