California police filmed shooting man dead after jaywalking
Attorney says fatal shooting would not have happened ‘if this was a white man’
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Your support makes all the difference.Police in California have released a video showing the moment a homeless man was shot dead after an altercation over him jaywalking.
Sheriff’s deputies from Orange County fatally shot the man, 42-year-old Kurt Reinhold, amid an altercation in September in San Clemente, California.
The video, released on Thursday last week, shows two sheriff's deputies considering whether or not to charge Reinhold with jaywalking, before tackling him to the floor.
Reports say the sheriff’s deputies were on patrol and were assigned to the homeless outreach team, when the shooting took place.
One of the deputies says in the video, "Watch this, he's going to jaywalk," before asking Reinhold: "Are you going to stop or are we going to have to make you stop?
"Jaywalking here? That's ridiculous,” Reinhold adds.
Video shows the situation rapidly escalate, as the sheriff’s deputies tackle Reinhold, who says: "What is your problem? Why are you touching me?"
Reinhold continues to struggle with the two deputies holding him down. One of them shouts: “He’s got my gun”.
Surveillance video appears to show Reinhold's hand near one of their holsters. Then, two shots were fired.
An attorney for Reinhold’s family, John Taylor, told CBS that the September 23 encounter was "a blatant, racially motivated stop,” and that Reninhold was trying to push the deputies away, rather than grabbing for the holster.
"They create the confrontation. They escalate the confrontation. They are the first person to put their hands on him and they end up taking his life, shooting him to death," the attorney said.
“If this was a white man attempting to do or stand in a public space, the stop and the shooting would never have occurred,” Mr Taylor added.
A lawsuit filed by Reinhold's family alleges that deputies violated his 4th and 14th Amendment rights and were guilty of negligence, according to CBS Los Angeles.
The deputies have since returned to duty and were reassigned, despite the shooting sparking protests.
This article was amended on March 1, 2021. The earlier version said he was shot ‘for jaywalking’.
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