A new video shows the Chinese American teenager who was fatally shot by Pennsylvania State Police last year had his hands up in the air when troopers opened fire.
The new footage has prompted calls for an independent investigation.
The videos, which the State Police recorded, show the final moments of Christian Hall’s life.
Hall, 19, who had been diagnosed with depression, was standing on the ledge of a highway overpass near Stroudsburg, in northeastern Pennsylvania, on December 30, when troopers arrived on the scene. They tried to persuade him to get down from the ledge but then noticed he had a gun — which was later confirmed to be a realistic pellet gun — they backed away, NBC News reported.
Monroe County district attorney previously released videos that show the young man raising his hands in the air, with the gun in one hand, after a trooper fired bullets that struck the bridge.
But apparently, the final seconds before he was killed were blurred by authorities.
Spotlight PA and NBC News obtained the full video from that tragic day from Hall’s parents, whose lawyer retrieved them through a subpoena. Hall is seen with his hands above his head for 14 seconds in all and that his hands were still in the air, the gun in one hand, as two troopers fired another series of shots, and he crumpled to the ground.
The incident was investigated by State Police troopers from outside the local barracks. Their findings were turned over to the Monroe County district attorney, who ruled it justified, claiming the lives of the troopers on scene were in danger.
In March, during a news conference, Michael Mancuso, an assistant district attorney, called the tragedy “classic suicide by cop scenario.”
The fatal shooting drew protests from activists who questioned how the State Police handled the situation, which appeared to be a teen in distress that needed help. Protesters also raised concerns about whether Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine Jr. Had an unbiased opinion given that his office regularly works with troopers to build cases.
Hall’s parents are in the process of suing the two troopers who shot their son. They released the full videos because they feel their son’s death merits more scrutiny, and they hope to spark fresh calls for an independent review.
“I would like to see an unbiased investigation take place,” said Gareth Hall, Christian’s father. “I personally would like to see those police officers brought up on charges.”
Ben Crump and Devon M. Jacob, the lawyers for George Floyd’s family, are representing Hall’s parents. They said the troopers should not have shot Hall.
“Everybody knows when you put your hands in the air that’s the universal sign of surrender,” Crump said. “Why use the most excessive force?”
The attorneys sent letters to the U.S. Justice Department, FBI, and Pennsylvania’s attorney general requesting a new investigation into Hall’s shooting and the response to it by the State Police and Christine’s office. However, the FBI and the Justice Department didn’t comment.
The letters accuse Christine’s office of falsely implying that Hall posed a threat to troopers with his gun in the final moments before he was shot and referenced that he had his hands above his head. The district attorney’s narrative and the blurred video lead “the viewer to believe that in the redacted portion of the video, Christian pointed the weapon at troopers and advanced on troopers; thereby justifying the use of deadly force,” the letters state.
Christine’s office released a statement saying it stood by its finding that the shooting was justified.
https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1356784689491623936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1356784689491623936%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fpennsylvania-teen-had-hands-police-220540745.html
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