Blevins family demands body cam video of police shooting

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thomas blevins shooting
Minneapolis police have released video footage of their encounter with Thomas Blevins, purportedly showing a gun in is hand moments before he was fatally shot.

UPDATE June 30, 2018:  Police released today body camera footage showing the police encounter with Blevins.  Authorities say the video shows Blevin with a gun in his pocket at the beginning of the incident, and in his hand just before being shot. No charges will be filed against the officers involved.

On June 23, 31-year-old Thurman Blevins was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt.  The two had responded to a 911 call that a man was firing a handgun. The details of the shooting were– or should have been– captured on the body cams worn by the two officers.

Three days after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced that he would release the body cam video, but nearly a month later the video had not been made public.

This past Friday family members protested outside the mayor’s office and demanded that the “unaltered, unedited and unabbreviated” video be released immediately.

Frey issued a statement later that day saying: “At this point, I can say with confidence that the video footage will be released by the end of July.”

Family members say they’ve been too lax in calling for the video to be released.  They intend to keep up the pressure on city officials until the documentation is produced.