Outrage Grows After Released Footage Shows Missouri Deputy Fatally Shooting Unarmed Black Teen Following Officer's Racist Remark
Family attorneys and community advocates are demanding accountability after bodycam footage revealed a Missouri officer's racist remark shortly before a deputy fatally shot unarmed 19-year-old Saveion McConnell. Prosecutors declined to press charges against the deputy who fired nine shots, but legal representatives argue the force used was excessive and unjustified.
Public outrage has intensified following the release of bodycam footage connected to the fatal law enforcement shooting of Saveion McConnell, an unarmed 19-year-old Black man in Missouri, according to reporting by Atlanta Black Star. The footage includes audio of an officer making a derogatory comment prior to the lethal encounter.
According to details detailed by Atlanta Black Star, the incident originated during the early morning hours of May 1 after police responded to a report of a 17-year-old girl wounded by gunfire inside a vehicle. A passenger reported that a gun discharged while being passed in the back seat, after which McConnell fled the vehicle on foot. Authorities later located two firearms inside the car.
While search efforts were underway, Odessa Police Department Officer Nathan Holmberg was recorded on camera stating, "Trying to find a Black kid at night, that’s always fun," as reported by Atlanta Black Star. Attorneys representing McConnell's family strongly condemned the comment. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump stated in a press release that no parent should have to hear an officer refer to a search for their child as if it were a sport.
Approximately two hours after the initial call, law enforcement officers located McConnell walking along a highway roughly three miles away. Bodycam footage captured Holmberg instructing McConnell at gunpoint to walk backward with his hands on his head. After briefly touching his hips, McConnell ran, and Lafayette County Sheriff’s Deputy Kenneth Lewie pursued him in a patrol vehicle, striking him with the car. Johnson County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Russell later described the vehicle impact as unintentional.
After standing back up, McConnell held his hands in the air while Deputy Lewie pointed his firearm and commanded him to get onto the ground. As Officer Holmberg approached with a Taser drawn, McConnell reached toward his waistband. Deputy Lewie then discharged nine rounds, striking McConnell eight times. Five of those shots were fired after McConnell had already fallen to the ground.
Prosecutor Russell announced that Deputy Lewie would not face criminal charges, reasoning that McConnell's waistband gesture caused the deputy to believe the teenager was reaching for a weapon. However, legal counsel representing the McConnell family disputed this conclusion. Senior Attorney Joshua M. Levin of Romanucci & Blandin noted in a press statement that McConnell was unarmed and that his movement toward his waist was consistent with someone attempting to pull up their pants after being struck by a car. Levin pointed out that the second officer had drawn a Taser rather than a firearm, and argued that firing five shots into an incapacitated individual on the ground constituted unreasonable and excessive force.
The Kansas City Defender, a Black-led media organization, initially published the bodycam recordings in September and called for an independent special prosecutor to re-examine the case and release all unedited footage from the incident, Atlanta Black Star reported.