The BCA has a history of protecting police who kill
After Thurman “Jun” Blevins was killed by Minneapolis police last Saturday, witnesses on the scene stated that he had been running away when shot. Police claim that he presented an imminent threat. The BCA says a gun was recovered at the scene. The Minneapolis NAACP and other organizations have called for the immediate release of the body camera video footage to establish the circumstances surrounding yet another fatal shooting of a black man by Minnesota officers. Although the BCA says it is “fully committed to a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation of the incident that led to the death of Thurman Junior Blevins,” community activists are skeptical of the BCA and have called for a truly independent outside investigation. (A state-level Special Prosecutor’s Office should be established to conduct investigations and prosecutions of police shootings, with the community helping to pick the Chief Prosecutor.) This skepticism and mistrust is due to the manner in which the BCA has