The lawyer for the family of Tyrell Wilson, a homeless Black man who was fatally shot last month by a police officer in San Francisco, says he has obtained a video that clearly shows the shooting was unjustified.
“The video and witness accounts show this was a cold murder. Wilson never had a chance," said John Burris, the attorney for Wilson's family, in a statement.
According to Burris, the video is taken by a motorist near the site of shooting in the city of Danville on March 11.
The footage shows Wilson and Police Officer Andrew Hall facing each other in a public parking lot where Wilson had been living.
The officer moves forward while pointing his gun at Wilson, making him take a step backward. Then Hall shoots once and Wilson collapses on his back.
This came after the Danville police department purported Wilson has had a knife in his right hand and that his refusal to drop the knife has prompted Hall to shoot at him.
However, the video doesn't confirm this narrative.
The state of America’s policing and justice system has come under renewed scrutiny over the past days as a former white police officer charged in the death of African American George Floyd goes on trial.
Floyd, 46, died last May as former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee on his neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest.
The incident, which was captured on video and went viral, set off months of angry protests across the United States and the world, as people demanded an end to racial injustice and police brutality against African Americans.