Tuesday, the ACLU of Alabama, Alabama NAACP, and the family of E.J. Bradford represented by the Ben Crump Law Firm announced that they were filing a public information request for the release of footage of the shooting of E. J. Bradford by a Hoover Police officer at the Galleria Mall on Thanksgiving night.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) released a report two weeks ago, concluding the AG investigation into the shooting death of Emantic Fitzgerald ”E.J.” Bradford Jr. Bradford was a young Black man killed by an unnamed Hoover police officer. Marshall has ruled the shooting as justified and will not bring charges against the officer who has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The groups say that since the investigation has ended, it is now time for the Attorney General to release the video footage, officer name, and other findings to give the community and general public a chance to review what happened. The Hoover Police Department has already complied with a previous public records request for their general use-of-force policies and body cam policies.
The family of E.J. Bradford, Alabama NAACP, and ACLU of Alabama will join in front of the Attorney Generals office in Montgomery to speak on the public records request they are jointly filing on Wednesday.
E.J. was shot three times by the officer moments after a shooting in which another man shot two people in a scuffle over some sale priced shoes. Emantic was wrongly identified as the shooter in the hours following the shooting. Bradford did have a gun in his hand when he was shot.
Marshall took over the jurisdiction for the investigation from District Attorney Danny Carr (D) citing a conflict of interest with Carr. Civil rights groups have questioned that decision as well as the decision not to charge the officer.
