‘An execution’: Kansas City faith group says video shows March 25 police shooting
A group of faith leaders in Kansas City held a news conference Tuesday announcing they have video of the fatal police shooting of Malcolm Johnson earlier this year.
Johnson, 31, was killed March 25 during a confrontation with Kansas City police officers at a gas station near East 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
On Tuesday, the group of ministers gathered outside the gas station and said they had obtained video of the shooting and were releasing it to news media. The video they released did not show the shooting itself, but the faith leaders said it, and other facts surrounding the shooting, showed the initial account given by the highway patrol was not accurate.
“What I saw was an execution,” said the Rev. Darron Edwards, a leader with Getting to the Heart of the Matter, a group of local faith leaders who have been cooperating with the Kansas City Police Department.
“Regardless of the sound quality and the video not showing the actual shots, it is clear that the report does not match the video,” said the Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III. “We are demanding justice.”
At the time of the shooting, the highway patrol said two Kansas City police officers had gone inside the gas station and tried to arrest Johnson when “a fight, a struggle ensued.”
The patrol said Johnson drew a handgun and shot one of the officers in the leg as two other officers arrived on the scene to assist with the arrest.
The wounded officer returned gunfire, fatally wounding Johnson, the spokesman said.
Johnson was pronounced dead at a hospital. The officer was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital several days later.
Police shooting
Khadijah Hardaway, a spokeswoman for Johnson’s family, said Tuesday that while police initially described the incident as a “cut and dry shooting,” video shown to the family shows the initial police narrative is “not true.”
“When the two officers arrived, they approached Malcolm with guns drawn, Malcolm had his head down scratching a lottery scratch-off ticket,” Hardaway said.
She said when Johnson, who was wearing a hoodie, turned to retreat, he was wrestled to the ground by two officers. Then two more officers walked in and helped pin Johnson down on his left side. Hardaway added that Johnson suffered a gunshot wound to his left arm in 2013, leaving him with limited mobility.
No struggle happened, as police described, she said.
At one point in the video, a female officer leaves the gas station and returns with a taser, Hardaway said. In the time the female officer was gone, the other officers shot Johnson twice in the head at close range, she said.
The video then shows the officers filing out of the gas station, blood speckling the floor, Hardaway said.
“We’re looking for accountability and justice,” Hardaway said.
The highway patrol has been the lead investigative agency for police shootings in Kansas City since June 2020. Up until then, the Kansas City Police Department investigated its own officers, a practice that was criticized by some community leaders.
A clerk at the gas station who said he witnessed the shooting told The Star that the altercation was captured on video, but that it was confiscated by the highway patrol.
“This travesty that has happened to this amazing young man, yet we’ve had no response to it,” said Pastor Ron Lindsay, a co-founder of Getting to the Heart of the Matter, adding that the tape shows “egregious behavior” by the police.
Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City Police Department, said in response to questions about the news conference that all inquiries into the shooting should be directed to highway patrol.
Sgt. Andrew Bell, a spokesman with highway patrol, said Tuesday that he had not seen the comments from the faith leaders, and could not comment on what they said. Bell added that the patrol welcomes any evidence from the public.
The video
After the press conference, the faith leaders released the two minutes and 28 seconds of surveillance footage.
The video shows two uniformed officers with their handguns drawn approaching a man dressed in a hooded jacket standing in front of the check out window inside the gas station.
The man, whom faith leaders said is Johnson, is seen standing at the counter. He scratches at a piece of paper, then passes it to the store clerk.
He then turns around as the two officers in uniforms immediately appear to grab his arms, their guns drawn. The man looks like he breaks free briefly, takes a few steps forward, as if he’s trying to run, before the video shows what appears to be the officers pulling him away from the gas station door.
The struggle between the officers and the man continues as food items stocked on shelves are kicked on the floor.
Two more officers enter the store and try to help restrain the man, according to the video. The camera angle only shows the man’s feet as he continues to struggle with the officers.
A female sergeant enters the store and talks on her radio. No audio accompanies the video.
The man and officers stay mostly out of the camera’s view, their feet still visible, for about 80 seconds before the video shows what appears to be an officer who is wounded in the leg being rushed out of the store by the sergeant and two other officers.
A list of demands
The Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III said faith leaders and Johnson’s family are demanding that the four officers involved in Johnson’s killing be criminally charged and immediately fired.
“The case has been laid out and once you see the video, you will see how clear it is that the report that was given is contrary to what is shown in the video, and Malcolm Johnson was on the ground restrained, yet he was shot,” Cleaver said.
He said if their demands aren’t met, they are prepared to go to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Cleaver also said there was an eye witness to the shooting who described what they saw as an execution. He said that the witness was never interviewed by investigators with the highway patrol.
“We do believe in police, but we do not believe in this kind of policing,” Edwards said. “The culture, the conditions and the climate of Kansas City must change.”
He said the faith leaders spoke Tuesday morning with Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, who told them he had not seen the video and that he could not comment on the investigation.
Edwards said they were then directed to the highway patrol, who “dismissed” them.
At that point, Edwards said, the leaders decided to hold a news conference, citing a “moral obligation” and a demand for change.
Edwards, who has worked closely with the police department in recent months through Getting to the Heart of the Matter, said the community has to look at both the intentional and unintentional lies told by the department.
“We know for a fact that we sat in the room, and were lied to this morning,” he said, though he didn’t specify who was present.
Edwards said he expects anyone who sees the video to be outraged.
“Martin Luther King said that even a worm will squirm when it’s stepped on,” he said. The Black community is tired of getting stepped on, and there’s gonna be some squirming.”
Previous incident
The shooting Johnson was being arrested for occurred March 15 in the 9700 block of East 43rd Street, according to police.
There, responding officers were told Johnson allegedly had fired shots at the daughter of the person who dialed 911. Arriving officers found several spent shell casings in the driveway of a home. A bullet grazed the foot of a man at the home, according to a police report.
The caller told police that Johnson was her daughter’s ex-boyfriend and was shooting at her. Gunfire struck four vehicles at the home and Johnson drove away in a black Dodge Journey.
The man who was struck refused medical treatment at the scene.
In 2016, Johnson was mistakenly released from the Jackson County Detention Center while facing charges in a murder case. The next year, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 1:00 PM.
