Local activists reacting to body camera video involving shooting death of Nicolas Chavez
HOUSTON - Houston activists are now reacting to the HPD body-camera video involving the shooting death of 27-year-old Nicolas Chavez.
The body-camera video was publicly released by HPD Thursday during a press conference.
Houston Police Chief, Houston Mayor news conference following firing of four HPD police officers **WARNING - EXPLICIT CONTENT**
Full video of the news conference held by Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner following the firing of four Houston Police Department officers. **WARNING - EXPLICIT CONTENT**
“That video is sad,” said Dav Lewis, an activist. “That video shows a man in distress.”
The released footage compiles roughly 15 minutes of body-camera video. People can watch and hear calls made to 911, police trying to calm Chavez down, and ultimately more than 20 shots fired at the 27-year-old father after he reached for an empty taser.
RELATED: Four HPD officers fired following deadly April 2020 shooting of Nicolas Chavez
According to HPD Chief Art Acevedo, the large amount of body camera video had to be edited-down because of time constraints. On the day of the shooting, we were told there were more than 70 cameras to look at.
“It has been redacted for the purposes of time,” said Acevedo. “It went on for quite a while. We’ve edited parts where there was nothing going on. What the community will see is what led up to every discharge.”
In Friday’s Zoom interview, local activists doubted the reasoning behind the edited-down video.
“There’s a lot of those video cams that the family was able to see, that of course, they didn’t show [publicly],” said Jose Vega from LULAC Council #19.
“If it’s going to be public, then it should be public,” said Justin Justice Jones, an activist. “It should not be held.”
“This happened in April,” said Lewis. “It is now September. I think the only reason they decided to take action is because the Chavez family called for the release of the video.”
The police-shooting death of Chavez occurred on April 21, 2020. The body-camera video was released on September 10, 2020.
RELATED: Family of Nicolas Chavez say firing of police officers is a step in the right direction
“We wanted to make sure that we followed the process,” said Acevedo. “The one thing I do not want to do, as a police chief… is to cave in and not follow a process. [Then], next thing you know we lose an appeal.”
Four members of the Houston Police Department were fired by Acevedo for their role in the death of Chavez. Acevedo calls the shooting unjustified.
“If that’s how little you value life; I don’t need you in this department,” said Acevedo referring to the officers involved.
“Although they did fire these four officers, they need to look into their training,” said Vee Rodriguez from LULAC Council #19.
“Beyond fired, we want charges filed,” said Lewis. “We want prosecution to the fullest extent.”
The Houston Police Officers Union (HPOU) also held a press conference Thursday where their members passionately called the officer-involved shooting justified. According to their members, the officers involved did not violate any current police policies or procedures.
“It was clear when viewing the video, these officers did not want to shoot Mr. Chavez,” said HPOU President Joe Gamaldi.
The four fired HPD members have filed an appeal for their jobs.
“We need policies in place that protect black and brown people, and hold police accountable,” said Lewis. “As long as they have reasonable doubt in their policy, we will not be protected.”