Family members of man fatally shot by HPD demand unedited footage
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The family of Alva Braziel, the man fatally shot by an HPD officer earlier this month, called for the release of unedited footage of Braziel's death in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Braziel's wife, Nikkita Braziel, specifically called for the release of any footage that shows her husband waving his gun at Houston police officers, which the department says caused officers to fatally shoot him.
Earlier this week, the Houston Police Department released footage from a nearby surveillance camera and two different officer body cameras. Click here to watch the footage on YouTube (Warning: The footage contains graphic imagery and language).
"Ray Charles is deaf and blind and could see that the videos on YouTube are edited. This family deserves the full, unedited, complete video," an unnamed family member said of the footage.
The only camera to capture the moments leading up to Braziel's death was also the farthest away; Braziel can be seen waving his arms, but it is not immediately clear if he was pointing a gun at the responding officers.
The family also criticized Mayor Sylvester Turner's response to Braziel's death, accusing him of not cooperating with them and releasing inconsistent information related to the case.
"For the mayor to come out and make statements on behalf of the wife that the wife did not authorize is also a problem," a family member said.
A Black Lives Matter spokesperson asked any citizens with footage of the incident to come forward and also called for a change in bodycam policy.
HPD requires that bodycams be recording while officers are interacting with civilians; should a threat arise while an officer's body camera is not recording, however, the officer is permitted to defuse the threat before turning on his or her camera.
