Nikita Braziel, Wife Of Alva Braziel, Calls The Mayor Of Houston Out For Lying – blogged by @niksofly

#Houston Mayor, #SylvesterTurner, abruptly called for a recess at Tuesday’s city council meeting. The impromptu decision came after #NikitaBraziel, the wife of #AlvaBraziel- the man killed by Houston police on July 9, questioned Turner’s concern and comments he [Turner] made publicly.

Mrs.Braziel exclaimed, “He had a family. He was feeding his family. Do you care? No. It’s not your child. It’s not your man. It’s not your husband. It’s not your wife. We don’t sleep at night. My kids go to a psychiatrist. Are you going to help us? No you’re not. But you’re going to sit here and tell a lie. He was crossing the street. He was not standing in the street.”

Mrs. Braziel then continued debunking the statements the Mayor made. She stated that the video she was showed exhibited her husband asking for help before he was shot at least three times. “ What you showed the state, I don’t understand. I never seen that one.”

The extended video clip also shows Mrs. Baziel telling Mayor Turner that he lied. He had not spoken with her or the family’s attorney as he had mentioned and that the video did not show Mr. Braziel pointing a gun at police. 

The video that HPD released to the public only captures the incident after the shooting. It doesn’t show what transpired before hand. Grainy video independent of HPD’s body cam surfaced after the incident showing what is believed to be Braziel with his hands in the air, turning around. The responding officer quickly hops out of his moving vehicle without completely stopping the vehicle and placing it in park. After the responding officer secures the vehicle, Alva is seen being shot moments later.The released HPD video does show Mr. Braziel with a gun in his hand. However, it should be noted that Texas is an open carry state. Owning gun or having one visible is not against the law.

#KHOU is reporting that the Mrs.Baziel held a press conference outside of City Hall before entering into the chambers and demanding that transparency be implemented with regards to the body cams. According to HPD, the cameras must be switched on by the officers. A delay of about 30 seconds referred to as “buffering” occurs before footage is actually captured. The implementation of body cams by HPD was declared a complete failure by the protestors. Nikita and those that accompanied her are also requesting that HPD release unedited  footage within 24 hours of an incident.

It would probably behoove HPD to have body cams on at all times. Once an officer  clocks in, he or she should be required to immediately turn on their cameras. If the cams can be turned on or off according to personal discretion, then pertinent information and footage is lost. What are the factors that officers use to determine if the body cam should be turned on? In addition, releasing unedited footage immediately would show the raw truth. A complete story from beginning to end should be told at all times.

#BallerAlert #InTheNews

-Niko Rose