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Body Cameras

Deputy Who Killed Unarmed Arkansas Teen in Roadside Encounter Fired

The deputy's body camera wasn’t turned on when he fatally shot 17-year-old Hunter Brittain.

Scott Shackford | 7.2.2021 1:00 PM

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Hbrittain_1161x653 | Twitter
Hunter Brittain, on left (Twitter)

A Lonoke County, Arkansas, deputy who shot and killed an unarmed teen during an early morning traffic stop in June has been fired for not recording the encounter on his body camera, the county's sheriff said Thursday.

In a video posted on Facebook, Sheriff John Staley announced that the deputy, Sgt. Michael Davis, did not turn on his body camera as department policy requires when he stopped 17-year-old Hunter Brittain near Cabot, Arkansas, at around 3 a.m. on June 23.

Brittain had been attempting to repair a truck and had been driving away from a nearby body shop when Davis pulled him over. What happened next comes from an account by Jordan King, 16, who was in the truck with Brittain. The brakes on the truck did not work properly, so Brittain exited the truck with a bottle of antifreeze after stopping for Davis, with the intent to prop it behind a rear tire of the truck to keep it from rolling back and striking the deputy's vehicle.

While Brittain was attempting to do this, Davis fired on the teen, killing him. According to King, Davis never ordered Brittain to stop or get on the ground—the deputy just shot him.

The encounter grew into a national news story as Brittain's family demanded answers for why the boy was shot. Staley on his part promised transparency and said he wanted the body camera footage—which had been handed over to the Arkansas State Police for an investigation—to be publicly released.

On Thursday, Staley, while also complaining about the angry responses and threats his department has gotten since the story has blown up, revealed that because Davis did not turn on his camera until after he shot Brittain, there isn't footage of what preceded the shooting. Because of that, he decided to fire Davis.

Whining about people being rude on social media notwithstanding, Staley likely made the right choice here. It will be up to state prosecutors to decide whether to charge Davis with a crime.

Brittain's family has now retained Ben Crump and Devon Jacob, the attorneys who have also represented the family of George Floyd, to represent them. The duo put out a statement Thursday night praising Staley for firing the deputy and adding, "Body cameras are, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the only way to see the unbiased facts surrounding a police and civilian encounter resulting in injury and/or death. When officers turn their body cameras off, they turn off their intent to be transparent along with it. While nothing can bring Hunter back, our team stands in solidarity with the Brittain family, and we plan to help them attain full justice for the heartbreaking and preventable loss they are experiencing."

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NEXT: The Department of Justice’s Moratorium on Executions Is Not What Biden Promised

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

Body CamerasPolicePolice AbuseArkansasUse of ForceExcessive ForceLaw enforcement
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  1. Fist of Etiquette   4 years ago

    At least he was fired for shooting an unarmed kid.

    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   4 years ago

      We'll see if he's reinstated a year later after arbitration and with back pay.

      1. Hank Ferrous   4 years ago

        Sadly this seems likely. Or hired by another PD, or a security firm. Though, maybe, just maybe, there is enough of a cloud over this guy to keep him away from positions where he has any authority of any sort. If only this applied to politicians.

        1. ThomasD   4 years ago

          A felony conviction sure would short circuit any future LEO positions.

          1. sarcasmic   4 years ago

            Not really. They can find ways to work around that. Especially to hire an officer who has killed someone. Those guys are the envy of every department.

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          2. Amanda   4 years ago

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      2. jab   4 years ago

        This article says this was national news. First I've ever heard of it

    2. mad.casual   4 years ago

      Shoot someone on the 23rd, get fired on the 2nd. Justice is swift.

    3. Rossami   4 years ago

      He didn't get fired for the murder. He got fired because he got caught not turning on his camera.

      1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   4 years ago

        Well, to be fair, it's not a murder until a court determines it to be so. At this point, firing him for not following procedure is a completely reasonable action.

        The bar for firing an officer should be relatively low, especially when lives are involved. Even if the shooting ends up being fully justified, he can still be fired for not turning the camera on, as it should be.

      2. TrickyVic (old school)   4 years ago

        I'm pretty sure Fist's post is sarcasm.

        1. Longtobefree   4 years ago

          Like male and female, there is no longer a distinction between sarcasm and policy.

    4. Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger   4 years ago

      The kids family should be patient and deal the cop in a few years.

    5. CGN   4 years ago

      FIRED????!!! He should be hung by the neck for this. Cops have guns for a reason: to protect themselves against others shooting at them, NOT for "FUN" as this asshole of a pussy-shit cop did.

  2. Roscoe Kresky   4 years ago

    Too bad he wasn't strung out on drugs and resisting arrest, his family could have been millionaires.

  3. Dillinger   4 years ago

    where are the pallets of bricks being dropped off?

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    1. Unicorn Abattoir   4 years ago

      And HO2. Don't forget the HO2.

  5. buckleup   4 years ago

    Welcome to democrat amerikkka.

    1. Lord of Strazele   4 years ago

      You stupid mfer. You know damn well most cops are Republican types.

      1. MollyGodiva   4 years ago

        They don't care. They are so partisan they will criticize the Ds for not pushing hard enough for their policy while ignoring that the Rs are the ones blocking it.

        1. Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger   4 years ago

          Yeah, we’re the ones who are blindly partisan………..

          You’re a silly bitch, aren’t you?

      2. sarcasmic   4 years ago

        He blames Democrats for his mother's gout.

        1. Palatki   4 years ago

          And i blame democrats for you.

      3. Hank Ferrous   4 years ago

        Public sector union support data disagrees, mindreader. But, stick with the bias, it makes you fun to mock.

        1. ThomasD   4 years ago

          " union support data disagrees"

          As does the elected leadership of the majority of these abusive shithole municipalities.

      4. TrickyVic (old school)   4 years ago

        It's about respect my authority, not politics.

      5. ravenshrike   4 years ago

        Only in the Sgt/Lt/Cap strata. Lower ranks are more or less evenly divided among the population politically, and higher ranks are almost invariably whatever the politics du jour of the area are.

      6. perlhaqr   4 years ago

        Shut up, Strudel Lady.

      7. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   4 years ago

        An Island republican stronghold in a sea of Democrat benevolent rule and enlightenment. Impervious to the enlightened vision of the legislative body.

  6. Lord of Strazele   4 years ago

    They ought to fire every fucking cop in this country and not let a mfer who's serving now anywhere near power ever again. Amyone attracted to that job is suspect.

    1. ThomasD   4 years ago

      Every cop, other than your bro in the Capitol building, right Jake?

    2. Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger   4 years ago

      I feel l the same about all democrats and a large amount of republicans.

  7. Unicorn Abattoir   4 years ago

    fired for not recording the encounter on his body camera

    Dammit Staley, we get that you had to shoot an unarmed kid, but not letting us see the replay? I can't let that stand. Get outta here.

  8. n00bdragon   4 years ago

    This is the first I've heard about this, probably because the victim is white. No one cares.

    1. Gaear Grimsrud   4 years ago

      Dude was toxic with whiteness.

  9. Balloon maker   4 years ago

    That’s what he gets for leaving a witness alive

  10. Ben of Houston   4 years ago

    From the description, this was all in front of the vehicle. Where is the dash-cam? Those aren't so readily disabled.

    1. Ama-Gi Anarchist   4 years ago

      That's my question too. Perhaps the car wasn't equipped with a dash cam. The fact the body cam wasn't turned on is suspect enough.

    2. m4019597   4 years ago

      Storing footage and maintaining cameras can be costly for smaller police departments.

      This rural police department gave their cops only body cameras, but didn’t put cameras in their vehicles.

  11. BigGiveNotBigGov   4 years ago

    Cops have learned their lesson from the uproar over Floyd and murder conviction of Chauvin.

    No, not to stop murdering unarmed people. Don't be naive.

    Cops have learned to make damned sure that no video survives of their murdering.

    1. Love to be Wrong   4 years ago

      I wouldn't be so sure they were responsible for Floyd's death. He said he couldn't breath long before the cops showed up. Sounds like he overdosed on something and the cops happened to show up at the wrong time.

      1. jacob   4 years ago

        Floyd's death was ruled a homicide, I am sure that the police were responsible. I think the kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes had something to do with it.

        1. Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger   4 years ago

          Don’t forget the fentanyl.

    2. Full Of Buckminster   4 years ago

      He’ll have no problem getting another similar job. Not turning on body cams is viewed as a job requirement by LEO’s.

  12. Jerryskids   4 years ago

    They don't have police unions in Arkansas? No way in hell you can fire a cop that fast, not without violating his due process rights as the union contract defines them. It takes 6 months or more to do it by the book.

    1. Jerryskids   4 years ago

      And of course even if you suspend the cop for the duration of the investigation determining whether or not he should be fired, you gotta keep issuing him his regular paycheck.

    2. Number 2   4 years ago

      I was about to say the same thing. In New Jersey you need to have one hearing to suspend the officer, then two hearings to terminate him, not counting appeals.

    3. jacob   4 years ago

      Very good point. It's feasible that this is just for show, and when the dust settles Bubba gets his job back.

  13. HackJackerson   4 years ago

    The only statement released so far is from a friend, the family has retained Crump, and the officer was fired under political pressure for a procedural violation that probably isn't punishable by firing. I'm just going to call it now that the story is not entirely accurate to the dashcam footage.

    Also either Reason's reporting is shoddy (always a distinct possibility) or King's story is already changing because the local news is saying it was a blue jug of oil and that the truck wouldn't shift into park, rather than anti-freeze and non-functional brakes.

    Also it sounds like Brittain was the driver, which is important because it means he jumped out of his truck and ran towards the officer during a 3AM traffic stop. Which is one of the easiest ways to get shot I can think of.

    1. Ezra MacVie   4 years ago

      "the story is not entirely accurate to the dashcam footage"
      WHAT?

    2. Hank Phillips   4 years ago

      Note to foreign readers: That was Wink Dinkerson from the Brotherhood of Butchering Bastids, papering over the murder with pusillanimous pettifoggery.

  14. The Team Struggling   4 years ago

    Dammit, Reason. Will you not tell us the race of the murdering cop!? It is an integral fact to the story, according to modern journalistic standards, in some instances.

    1. m4019597   4 years ago

      He’s white, moron.

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  17. Utkonos   4 years ago

    Body cams? Fine. Just so we remember they’re being worn by “OFF”-icers, not “ON” - icers. (T-shirts and bumper stickers available at all police union July 4 shindigs)

  18. Ezra MacVie   4 years ago

    Man, that boy has got SOME eyebrows! Did you look under the bill of his cap in the photo?

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  21. Rob Misek   4 years ago

    Once cops have to wear body cameras everywhere how could the rest of us be refused the right to.

    We’re on the right track.

  22. Hank Phillips   4 years ago

    Oh the law was very firm, it
    Took away my permit
    The worst punishment I ever endured
    It turned out there was a reason
    Kids were out of season
    And one of the victims wasn't insured!
    --After Tom Lehrer, The Hunting Song

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