BATON ROUGE, LA - JULY 21: A black band is displayed around Louisiana State Police Officer Bryan Lee badge during a prayer vigil for Baton Rouge Police Officers Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Deputy Brad Garafola at the North Boulevard Town Square July 21, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jackson, Gerald and Granola were killed by Gavin Long, who traveled from Kansas City, Missouri, ambushing the law enforcement officers along Airline Highway Sunday morning and wounding several others. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
Disturbing body-cam video emerged Monday showing an unarmed Black man being fatally shot in the head by a white Louisiana sheriff’s deputy earlier this month, amidst widespread backlash from community members.
Derrick Kittling, 45, was killed after Deputy Rodney Anderson stopped him for an alleged window tint violation on November 6, as he drove his Chevrolet Silverado pickup during the daytime in a residential neighborhood of Alexandria, according to The Huffington Post.
The incident sparked outrage in the predominantly Black city, prompting Louisiana State Police to release body camera footage.
The clip shows a Rapides Parish sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting an unarmed Black man in the head during a traffic stop.
At a press conference on Monday, Anderson’s body-worn camera footage shown alongside other footage recorded by a bystander during the deadly traffic stop.
In the footage, Deputy Anderson can be heard telling Kittling to “stay right there” as the latter exited his car, before promptly switching orders and telling him to walk towards his police truck, which Kittling was standing beside after getting out of the driver’s seat.
WARNING: graphic and disturbing content below:
Anderson isn’t heard once telling Kittling why he had been stopped. When he does ask for a reason, Anderson doesn’t answer the question.
Anderson’s conflicting orders appeared to confuse Kittling, as the deputy then tells him to “walk over here.”
“Walk to your truck,” the deputy says while Kittling is standing by the truck’s door and the deputy remains in his car.
The officer then gets out of the police vehicle and demands Kittling keep his hands out of his pockets. As Kittling walks to the back of his truck, per Anderson’s orders, he’s accosted by the officer who grabs his left arm.
“What’s the issue?” Kittling asks Anderson.
Anderson goes on to say that Kittling is following his orders before telling him to turn around and face the truck. Kittling then asks if he can retrieve his phone, to which the deputy responds: “we will get to that,” and stops him from getting his phone.
Kittling continues to remain confused during the encounter with Anderson, asking the officer “why are you grabbing on me, bruh?”
“What I did? What is wrong with you? While are you grabbing on me, man? Why are you grabbing on me, bruh?” Kittling asks Anderson.
The officer can then be heard telling Kittling to put his hands behind his back several times, but the still-confused Kittling asks Anderson, “For what?”
Then, a struggle begins.
The sheriff’s department said that Anderson “lost control” of his Taser before Kittling retrieved it amidst the struggle as it lay on the ground.
It remains unclear if Kittling ever pointed the Taser toward Anderson.
The struggle, which lasted about a minute, ends with the officer fining a shot. “Shots fired, shots fired,” Anderson can be heard saying.
Meanwhile, dashboard camera footage shows Anderson carrying the gun and looking at Kittling as he lay on the ground. He then makes a call toward other officers, telling them he shot the man in the head, The Huffington Post reports.
During a press conference on Sunday, Col. Lamar Davis, head of the Louisiana State Police, told local media that Kittling had been stopped for a window tint violation and having a modified exhaust.
The department did not reveal whether or not Anderson violated department policy, and refused to say if Kittling was tased. Davis also would not say if the taser ever struck Anderson during the struggle.
“We can’t say for certain that he was actually tased or whether the officer was tased. There is a lot that goes into researching this.”
Renowned defense attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Ronald Haley have been retained by the family of Derrick Kittling, according to a tweet by the lawyer.
Kittling is reported to be the brother of a high-ranking official within the Louisiana State Police Department, Lt. Colonel Kenny VanBuren, who’s official bio says he’s a 31-year veteran of the force, according to WAFB.
