Today, Center for Policing Equity Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff released the following statement on the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr.:
An interaction involving Pasquotank County, North Carolina sheriff’s deputies attempting to serve an arrest warrant resulted in the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man. His family is left to grieve, searching for answers, and the place he called home has declared a state of emergency.
Rounds of ammunition from pistols and semi-automatic rifles penetrated Andrew’s body and car as he was unarmed and his hands were on the steering wheel. While we are unaware to what extent the lives of the officers involved were in danger, what is certain is that disproportionate force is too often treated as an acceptable tool of first resort.
As the country continues to process the trauma inflicted by continuous loss of life at the hands of those sworn to protect those lives, we have to provide communities with the resources needed to redesign public safety and prevent forms of systemic violence that threatened Andrew Brown Jr. well before deputies ever arrived at this home.
Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family, the people of Elizabeth City, and everyone desperately searching for comfort amid these tragic losses.