Body-cam video of Thurman Blevins shooting appears to vindicate Minneapolis police
Protests to continue despite video showing Blevins pull out a gun as police shouted “Stop, stop! Put your hands up! I will (expletive) shoot you!”
The Minneapolis police released videos of the shooting of Thurman Blevins, 31, after people insisted the man didn’t have a gun in his hands.
The video shows the police chasing Blevins with what looks like a gun in his hand.
A 911 call came in on June 23 “of a man firing a gun into the air on the city’s north side.” Officers Justin Schmidt and Ryan Kelly responded to the call. From CBS News:
Officers Justin Schmidt and Ryan Kelly were responding to a 911 call of a man firing a gun into the air on the city’s north side June 23. The video shows them pulling their cruiser up and a man — Blevins — seated on a curb near a woman with a child in a stroller. As the officers pull up, one says, “He’s got a gun!” Blevins jumps up and runs, as the officers yell “Stop, stop! Put your hands up! I will (expletive) shoot you!”
In a chase that takes less than a minute, Blevins yells back, “I didn’t do nothing bro,” ”Please don’t shoot” and “Leave me alone.” An enhanced version of the video has a red circle drawn around Blevins’ hand to highlight what appears to be a gun.
After the chase turns down an alley, Blevins is shot, still running.
The Minneapolis Police Department released three videos in connection to the shooting:
The raw video footage is the body worn camera video that comes straight from the body worn camera. It contains movement and provides a lower level of clarity. This video is from the MPD and has not been altered in any way.
The stabilized and analyzed video was not produced by the MPD. It was produced by the National Center for Audio & Video Forensics in Beverly Hills, California, as contracted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), and provided to the City of Minneapolis by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The National Center for Audio & Video Forensics ran this video through a stabilizing and analysis process. The stabilized and analyzed video includes footage from both MPD officers Justin Schmidt and Ryan Kelly. The stabilizing software identifies pixels from each frame and aligns them to help limit the “shake” that can occur without altering the content.
Usually “investigative date” in Minnesota does not come out to the public until the investigation ends, but the “state laws allow for the release of material like body camera footage if it’s deemed a benefit to the public or if it dispels ‘widespread rumor or unrest.'”
Fox9 published this statement from the police chief:
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo released a statement Sunday night, saying the Minneapolis Police Department is “unable to publicly comment on any facet of this incident.” Arradondo said he will be able to speak about the case once the criminal and internal investigation has concluded.
“This evening Chief Arradondo, at the direction of Mayor Jacob Frey, released the body worn camera video obtained in the June 23rd, 2018 Officer Involved Shooting. As this case still remains an active criminal investigation, the Minneapolis Police Department is unable to publicly comment on any facet of this incident,” the MPD statement said. “While Chief Arradondo is currently prohibited by data practice law from commenting on the specifics of this case he will continue to remain engaged, active and listen throughout the community. After completion of the criminal and internal investigation, Chief Arradondo will be able to speak about the case. We thank you for your continued patience in this matter.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey did not comment on the video, but called the death “tragic.” Blevins’ cousin Sydnee Brown “continued calls for Kelly and Schmidt to be charged in the shooting after seeing the video.”
Kevin Short, the lawyer for Schmidt, applauded the release of the videos: “The video shows Thurman Blevins fired one shot at officers. It’s gratifying to know the actions of the officers were justified. Hopefully the public learned a lesson to wait for all the facts and video to come out before vilifying officers.”
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You know what? I might be naive, and ignorant of the law, but I’ll bet there was at least a fair chance he would not have been shot if he hadn’t run away, or even if he stopped running.
“The video shows Thurman Blevins fired one shot at officers.
It does?
I don’t really care if they shoot every criminal that they see. But what bothers me is the shooting taking place in a residential area. I have been around enough cops to know they are not very good shots, especially under distress. They should establish shooting policy to minimize the chance of hitting innocents .
Here’s what bothers me. That a black man thought he was 7 foot tall and bullet proof and above the law and paid the price! Now because of his ignorance everyone else around him has to pick up the pieces of his selfish behaviour!
Who the hell was this guys roll models as a child growing up? Fucking gang busters and black race hater rappers?!?!
I get your point, but what are police supposed to do in a residential area when that is where the suspect is? It’s not like they choose the place. Are they not supposed to subdue someone who has what looks like a gun, or shoot them if they run away like this man did, because it is a residential area that looked like it was free of any people around?
It looked like the officer who did the shooting was the second officer, who was back a little further, and he had both hands on the gun. I can’t attest to his shooting ability, but he seemed to hit the target.
They have a duty to attempt to protect the general public (not any specific individual). Part of that duty is not allowing a person known to have a firearm (without any legal authorization to be brandishing said firearm) to run freely about the community where the person is a threat to the entire community. Hopefully the officer who fired knew he had a safe backstop in case he failed to hit the subject (and it appears he fired one round and did hit his target).
Now that I’ve watched the video after it took forever to load to the shots fired, more than one shot was fired by both officers. They still hit their target. And it is really clear that he had a handgun.
Seemed like a good shot to me!
Looks like the guy tried to fire once and had to rack the slide becuase his gun wasn’t ready to fire. The officer waited and fired when the threat appeared. Great shot whether it was the guy running or the other officer much father away.
I am a little surprised they cut it off so quick. I get it that you don’t want to publish a death shot, but showing his body with the gun as they approach it would certainly show he had a gun on him. I’m sure those details would be shown in a trial, if it comes to that.
The protests are part of Obama’s legacy, which he pushed frequently. He inserted himself into these local matters to enflame the population and increase distrust of the police. Those issues Obama poured gas on all seemed to show he had poor information, at best, and likely he saw these as a wedge issue he could use to keep the black votes for the Democrats. It ended up putting Police Officers’ lives in more jeopardy, as there had been more shootings of LEOs and the National attention and protests are causing LEOs to hesitate more, which injures them, or could cost them their lives.
Watch the other video as it shows just that. It looks to me like the first cop shot first and put him down then the second cop started shooting. I wouldn’t want to be any one of the 3.
The police officer kept saying to drop the gun and that he did not want to shoot. If there was an issue of not understanding the English language then that may be a cause for concern. But I don’t think this is the case. This looks justified.
I can kinda understand him running if he knew he had a warrant out on him (stupid move of course) but why hang onto the gun during the chase? Drop it on the ground as you run, at least the cops will know they don’t have to shoot you. And then by pulling the gun at the end, he forced their hand.
I wonder, if open carry was the law in that state, would the police have had any justification to try to stop him?
The article states that they were responding to a call of shots fired in the air.
Also, unless I am misunderstanding your statement, don’t confuse “open carry” with “brandishing”. Open carry doesn’t mean you can hold a gun in your hand with your finger anywhere near the trigger, legally, wherever and whenever you want.
Dropping the gun would be no proof that he didn’t have another gun. You bet your life.
I think the perp yelling “I din do nuttin” shows a casual understanding of English.
Too bad the black community simple does not realize that by getting behind this shooting “as a criminal act by the po po and a conspiracy” only serves to undermine any cases where it might be a legitimate criminal act by the police. I would say that in about a year or so an accusation of racism will no longer even raise an eyebrow. I guess that black parents don’t teach “The Little Boy who Cried Wolf” to their kids.
At what point does a witnesses testimony cross over into perjury in a case like this? If the woman in the local news video made her statements in front of a grand jury, could action be taken against her? A message about honesty needs to be sent.
2 weeks ago a 42 year old police officer in Weymouth MA was killed by a 21 year old man of color. The officer was responding to a call regarding a car accident in which the driver fled. When the officer arrived near the scene of the accident he saw a young man attempting to break into a house. He confronted the man and drew his service revolver. The man responded by picking up a decent sized rock. In that moment the officer had to make a split second decision regarding how to respond to the threat of a man with a rock… he chose not to fire his weapon. The man hurled the rock at the officer who was knocked to the ground. The man then grabbed the officer’s gun and shot him 10 times including 5 shots to the head as he lay helpless on the ground. The man then used the officer’s gun to murder a 77 year old woman who witnessed the events from her window.
Many of us who support the police have to wonder if the officer’s decision making wasn’t influenced by the current climate of hate toward the police inspired by the BLM movement. Had the office killed a 21 year old man who was “simply in a car accident” and “only holding a rock” one can imagine the outcry that would result particularly in a state like MA. I can see Liz Warren now on the front page of the Boston Globe decrying police violence toward minorities.
Instead, a 42 year old cop and veteran is dead, his wife a widow, his 2 young children grow up without their father and an innocent woman lost her life as well.
I really appreciate the work done by the writers at LI to present the facts related to these police shootings which are so often overlooked by the MSM and by politicians willing to repeat unsubstantiated claims to win political points.
Hey, Mr Mayor, please explain why you think this was “tragic”. What exactly did you find tragic about it? In what way was the decedent heroic, and in what way did the flaws he always had bring about his end?
But even if you merely meant to say it was “sad”, please explain why it was sad. In what way is the world a worse place for it?
“Tragic” because the mayor may understand that if the perp had an ounce of sense, he would have dropped the weapon and stopped running.
“Tragic” because the mayor might understand that BLM has inculcated all POPP that the police are bad, they won’t shoot, and besides which they desperately require martyrs to incite their people.
These body cameras are proving, it doesn’t matter to these cities and communities where protests break out. Trayvon was the biggie, followed quickly by Ferguson, where the literal accomplice in the robbery MADE UP the hands up don’t shoot and they all ran with it.
The camera footage is the bucket of water that gets thrown on the flare ups, 2 or 3 news cycles AFTER the folks get riled up and media gins up angry mob.
I wonder if the mayor was a pro-body cam advocate. And now that cops are wearing body cams? The mayor feigns ignorance via the ‘tragic’ comment gambit?
Black crime is over seven times higher than average, when one considers that black women’s crime rate is much lower than black men’s rate, I bet that actual black male rate is over tenfold that of the of the overall average.
I am really tired of hearing again and again about the white privilege of paying through the nose to pay to support their reproduction, and then paying even more to deal with their and their children’s criminal tendencies.
I firmly believe that affirmative BS should be ended. Everyone should be treated based on merit, and none should be handed a free pass because of their race.
A huge part of black’s problems are do to a dull normal average IQ of 85. There is no solution for this issue at this time. No one is very concerned that people of other races who have a low IQ are consigned to the bottom of the economic ladder, the same should be true for all, including blacks.
Thanks to Obozo, race is everything now.
Hee wuz a unarm blak man wit a gun! SMDH!
Aren’t bodycams wonderful? I would have loved those thirty years ago.
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/949109023688634368/pu/vid/1280×720/04WCi3g3_pmAtBgk.mp4
This is a URL sent to me recently for which I do not have a location or story. But again, it shows someone actively being an idiot to the point of “suicide by cop” being the cause of death.
Warning, it is much more graphic than Plevin’s celestial exit.
And for me there is no end to the enjoyment that the very activists who called for bodycams are the same activists whose adopted missions in life to prove po po corruption are being derailed, it seems, by every single tape release. Just think of how many years of Al Sharpton we could have been spared from if they had been used earlier.
It would help a lot if the camera’s showed the gun on the ground .
Here is another one, but this guy must have thought that he was 8 ft tall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPIE467Uww&feature=youtu.be
Several months ago I said that BLM might actually increase deaths by making thugs think that they were now untouchable.
So with the recent release of these bodycam recordings, do people think this now alters the mindset of potential jurors in other cases who hear accusations of racism and then see video evidence to the contrary?