Federal Agent Fires at Unarmed Black Man During Routine Traffic Stop, Police Report Omits Incident
A Homeland Security Investigations agent fired shots at an unarmed Black man during a recent traffic stop in Washington D.C., but the police report on the encounter does not mention the shooting. The incident has sparked outrage among civil rights attorneys, who claim that the Metropolitan Police Department is trying to cover up the incident by leaving it out of the police report and refusing to provide video footage from police body cameras.
Phillip M. Brown, 33, was stopped by federal agents on October 17 for allegedly fleeing from law enforcement. However, his lawyers say he was not attempting to flee and that the traffic stop was unnecessary. Brown's vehicle was struck by gunfire, but miraculously, he was uninjured.
The police report filed in D.C. Superior Court for Brown's criminal case does not mention the shooting. In fact, it claims that Brown revved his engine and began driving towards law enforcement officers before rear-ending another vehicle. However, prosecutors have since dismissed the charge against Brown due to insufficient evidence.
Civil rights attorneys Bernadette Armand and E. Paige White claim that police are trying to cover up the incident by omitting the shooting from the report. "We are lucky that our client is alive," White said. "He could very well be dead."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson claims that the agent who fired his gun feared for his life and the lives of others when he took defensive shots into the vehicle. However, Armand disputes this claim, saying that it's implausible that the shooting was justified without any mention in the police report.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety of federal agents patrolling the streets. Brown's attorneys argue that his traffic stop demonstrates the risks of patrols by federal agents who are not adequately trained for police work. "It's not OK to have agents and officers on the streets who are engaged in shooting at unarmed people and then covering it up after the fact," Armand said.
The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the incident, but Brown's lawyers claim that the agency is trying to cover up its role in the shooting. As a result, they are considering filing a lawsuit over his arrest.
In August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington, which led to the deployment of hundreds of federal agents and over 2,000 National Guard members to help police patrol the city's neighborhoods. The presence of these agents has raised concerns about their safety and accountability on the streets.
A Homeland Security Investigations agent fired shots at an unarmed Black man during a recent traffic stop in Washington D.C., but the police report on the encounter does not mention the shooting. The incident has sparked outrage among civil rights attorneys, who claim that the Metropolitan Police Department is trying to cover up the incident by leaving it out of the police report and refusing to provide video footage from police body cameras.
Phillip M. Brown, 33, was stopped by federal agents on October 17 for allegedly fleeing from law enforcement. However, his lawyers say he was not attempting to flee and that the traffic stop was unnecessary. Brown's vehicle was struck by gunfire, but miraculously, he was uninjured.
The police report filed in D.C. Superior Court for Brown's criminal case does not mention the shooting. In fact, it claims that Brown revved his engine and began driving towards law enforcement officers before rear-ending another vehicle. However, prosecutors have since dismissed the charge against Brown due to insufficient evidence.
Civil rights attorneys Bernadette Armand and E. Paige White claim that police are trying to cover up the incident by omitting the shooting from the report. "We are lucky that our client is alive," White said. "He could very well be dead."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson claims that the agent who fired his gun feared for his life and the lives of others when he took defensive shots into the vehicle. However, Armand disputes this claim, saying that it's implausible that the shooting was justified without any mention in the police report.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety of federal agents patrolling the streets. Brown's attorneys argue that his traffic stop demonstrates the risks of patrols by federal agents who are not adequately trained for police work. "It's not OK to have agents and officers on the streets who are engaged in shooting at unarmed people and then covering it up after the fact," Armand said.
The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the incident, but Brown's lawyers claim that the agency is trying to cover up its role in the shooting. As a result, they are considering filing a lawsuit over his arrest.
In August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington, which led to the deployment of hundreds of federal agents and over 2,000 National Guard members to help police patrol the city's neighborhoods. The presence of these agents has raised concerns about their safety and accountability on the streets.
I'm so angry that a black man was shot by federal agents during a traffic stop and the police report doesn't even mention it! 
How can they just leave out something like this? And what's with the excuse about the agent fearing for his life? 
It sounds like an afterthought to me. I'm glad Phillip Brown is alive, but he could've been killed if the agents were being truthful about what happened. This whole thing reeks of cover-up and a lack of accountability. 
The fact that they're trying to downplay it by leaving out video footage from police body cameras is just ridiculous 
. Something needs to change here, and fast! 
...if the agent was so scared that he thought he had to fire his gun, why isn't it even mentioned in the report? it just doesn't add up 
...the police department is trying to sweep this under the rug, but it's not gonna work 
...phillip brown's lawyers are right on point, he could've been dead because of that one shot 
...we need some serious accountability here 
i cant believe they didnt mention the shooting in the report its like theyre trying to cover it up and its not ok at all my heart goes out to phillip brown and his family he was lucky to get away with no serious injuries but still what happened to him is traumatisic 
. We should all be outraged that the police report didn't mention the shooting 
. It's like they're trying to sweep this under the rug 
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. Brown's case is just another example of how far we still have to go to achieve true justice and equality 
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It seems like the police are trying to sweep it under the rug 
. We need more information about what really happened, and we need it now! 
instead of making up some other excuse about him revving his engine and rear-ending another car 
like if you can't be bothered to properly train your agents then maybe they shouldn't be out there on the streets in the first place 
This is just another example of how the system is rigged against us and we need to stand up and fight for justice 
this is insane dude what's going on here? a traffic stop turns into a shooting and they're just gonna leave it outta the report? 
i mean brown's vehicle got hit by bullets, he could've been killed or hurt, and what do we know? 
And now Phillip is lucky to be alive but what if he wasn't? 
I'm literally shaking thinking about it... this is just a huge red flag for all the black ppl out there... we need more justice and accountability 
I don't get why we need so many federal agents on the streets anyway... it feels like they're just causing more problems than they solve