Police officials in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday released surveillance video footage in the 2014 shooting of a 26-year-old unarmed black man by an off-duty police officer.
A grand jury in December declined to indict Officer Juventino Castro in the shooting death of Jordan Baker at a northwest Houston shopping center on Jan. 16, 2014. Castro told investigators that Baker fit a robbery suspect description and, when confronted, acted in a way that made him fear for his life.
However, Baker's family on Monday filed a federal lawsuit, claiming Baker was "shot and killed without any lawful justification," the Houston Chronicle reported. The family also claims Baker was the victim of racial profiling.
The lawsuit mentioned the video, prompting demonstrations outside police headquarters on Monday demanding that police release the footage, which does not show the actual shooting.
The video is dimly lit and reveals little in the way of discernible interaction between the two men:
Castro, who was working off-duty as a private security guard at the time, claimed Baker, who was riding a bicycle, matched the description of a suspect in a string of robberies at the mall.
According to the Houston Police Department, the 10-year veteran of the force attempted to stop Baker, who was wearing a black hoodie, leading to a brief struggle and a chase.
The police version of events had Baker reaching into his waistband while charging toward Castro, prompting the officer to shoot him once. Baker was unarmed.
Police insisted that Castro acted in "compliance with departmental policy and state law." Officials also pointed out that the case had been reviewed by the Independent Police Oversight Board and the Harris County grand jury.
Police had previously cited internal investigations in refusing to release the video.
But on Wednesday, Mayor Annise Parker's director of communications, Janice Evans, tweeted that the video footage was being released because internal investigations into the shooting had been completed and the city was trying to usher in a new form of transparency.
MYR hasn't seen the video. Says it's not about what's on it, this is about policy moving forward.
MYR- moving forward the decision can't be based on what is on a video. If it is embarrassing, it is embarrassing.
Parker told the Chronicle that the video should have been released more quickly, noting that the city will need a uniform policy on releasing other videos as officer body cameras are rolled out.
"I think it could have been sooner handled," Parker said. "I actually had not seen this video because I didn't want to see it, because it's not about what's on the video or not on the video. It is about what is the city's policy in terms of video evidence."
Despite the dark, grainy footage, the Baker's attorney, David Owens, told KHOU-TV the video backs up claims that the 26-year-old was stopped on his bike because of racial profiling.
"It's not illegal to ride your bike in America," he said.