While the country was yet to overcome the shock caused by the fatal shooting of a Black man by cops in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, last week, a new report has revealed that the slain individual was a drug dealer with a long rap sheet that dated back to 1988.
Andrew Brown Jr, 42, was shot by a deputy on April 21 while the latter was serving a search warrant. His death sparked an outcry from members of the community who sought law-enforcement accountability and the immediate release of body-camera footage. According to an eyewitness, Brown was shot while he tried to drive away and the cops fired at him multiple times. Brown lost control of the car that went on to hit a tree.
On Monday, April 26, Fox News reported that Brown was described as a drug dealer in the Pasquotank County area and the criminal rap sheet has more than 180 pages. Fox said this after obtaining a copy of the search warrant and other records. On Monday afternoon, Brown’s family and their attorneys came to the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office to be shown the body camera footage of the shooting. It happened after a two-hour delay which, according to Pasquotank County Attorney R Michael Cox, happened to blur the faces and make redactions to the video.
Narcotics personnel were in touch with source buying drugs from Brown
An initial search warrant which was signed by North Carolina Superior Court Senior Resident Judge Jerry R Tillet on April 20 revealed that Agent RD Johnson of the Dare County Narcotics Task Force was in touch with a confidential source that said that they had been buying narcotics from Brown for more than a year. It was also reported that they had bought cocaine, “crack” cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin from Brown on many occasions. The informant also said that Brown would sometimes go to Dare County to deliver the narcotics. The informant would also travel to Elizabeth City to buy narcotics from Brown — either at hotels or even at his own residence.
Last month, the Dare County Narcotics Task Force asked the informant to conduct a “controlled purchase” of a quantity of cocaine from Brown and it was recorded. Also in the same month, the informant carried out another controlled purchase of meth from Brown and it was also captured on camera.
According to the search warrant, the investigators believed Brown was keeping, packaging and distributing drugs out of his residence and two BMWs. The warrant was requested by Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office Investigator D Ryan Meads.
*story by MEAWW
