Body camera footage shows that Jonah Neal did not pose a threat that warranted deadly force when a member of the federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot him in late May, according to a lawyer representing his family.
Jonah Neal, 25, was shot inside his home by a federal agent who responded to a 911 call that Neal was experiencing a mental breakdown. The agent who opened fire worked for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is one of the federal agencies that have sent officers to Memphis to tackle local crime at the direction of President Trump and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
Andre Wharton, who is representing Neal's family, said that he and Neal's mother were recently shown body camera footage by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office and it casts doubt that Neal posed any imminent threat to the agents.
"It was unjustified in our opinion," Wharton told NPR.
The video was taken from the perspective of a second agent, not the one who opened fire, according to Wharton. The attorney said Neal's mother could be heard in the video telling federal agents that her son was experiencing a mental crisis and he needed help.
The footage also showed federal agents were by the apartment front door and Neal was at a significant distance when the shooting occurred, according to Wharton. The attorney said that, in the footage, he heard one federal agent say aloud that Neal was not wielding a firearm, but rather a knife, and that, seconds later, a second agent opened fire.
Wharton called the response "out of proportion with what they were facing" and that it appeared to show a "lack of good training and experience."
"The response that we were able to observe was just totally inconsistent with good law enforcement," he said.
At a press conference on Saturday, Neal's mother Jessica asserted that her son did not harm anyone leading up to the shooting.
" My son did not hurt anybody. And, within 30 seconds, she decided his life was not worth it," Jessica Neal said, referring to the agent who opened fire.
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office did not respond to NPR's request to review the footage. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also declined to comment on the body camera footage because the investigation is ongoing.
Wharton said Neal's family wants the case to be transparent and timely. He added that how the investigation is handled matters to the greater community.
"Citizens are wondering, are these agencies … going to be able to do this without some accountability? Are they gonna be able to do this with impunity?" He said. "Or are the laws gonna apply equally to them?"
Neal is one of five people who have been shot by a member of the Memphis Safe Task Force since it began last fall. Four of the incidents, including Neal's, turned deadly, according to state data. Wharton is representing the families of two other victims of federal agent-involved shootings, including Tyrin Johnson who was fatally shot by National Guard troops on July 5.
State authorities have provided limited information about the shootings — including the names of the task force members who opened fire and whether they remain on duty.
When asked about the spate of shootings, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told NPR that the task force has made more than 11,000 arrests and seized more than 2,000 firearms.
"The Task Force has driven down violent crime in a city that had been failed by extreme Democrats soft on crime policies," she said in a statement.
Jessica Neal previously told NPR that on May 20, she called 911 after she found her son holding her handgun and threatening suicide.
Neal's family described him as smart, quiet, caring and not an aggressive person. They added that Neal wanted to become a doctor before he began to suffer from mental health issues in his early 20s.
At the press conference on Saturday, Neal's grandmother Cindy Leachman Aldridge said her grandson was "not a lowlife, not a lawbreaker." She added that she's committed to seeing justice for her family.
" We're not giving up," she said. "We're gonna have justice. We're gonna have peace, and we are, we are not going away."
