Bullet holes in a seat of Philip Brown's car after his vehicle was shot into by a Homeland Security agent in Washington DC. Photo / The Washington Post
US federal prosecutors say they can’t press charges against Homeland Security agents who shot into cars in Washington DC in two incidents last year because the bullets didn’t hit anyone.
In October, a federal agent patrolling with DC police shot at an unarmed man during a traffic stop. The bullets narrowly missed Phillip Brown, according to his lawyers, who provided photos of bullet holes in the car’s driver’s side window and passenger seat, as well as a bullet hole in the collar of the jacket he had been wearing. Less than a month later, another federal agent working alongside DC police officers shot at a car during a chase. No one was injured.
Both incidents occurred within blocks of each other on Benning Rd in Southeast Washington. In both instances, Homeland Security officials said the driver tried to use the car to injure law enforcement. It’s the same reason Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem and President Donald Trump have used to justify an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officer fatally shooting a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis this month, though a Washington Post analysis of video footage found the woman was veering her car past the agent when he shot her.
The DC police department’s internal affairs bureau investigated both cases and presented their findings to the DC US attorney’s office. Timothy Lauer, a spokesperson for US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, said in a statement Saturday the agents could not be prosecuted because no one was struck by the shots. DC police have referred their findings to Homeland Security’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday directed questions to the Justice Department.
“Being shot at by law enforcement is a serious, traumatic event,” said Quo Mieko Judkins, Brown’s defence attorney. “The fact that Mr Brown was not hit by a bullet does not minimise the danger he was placed in or the harm he experienced. When law enforcement uses deadly force under the circumstances in Mr Brown’s case and no one is held accountable, it raises serious questions about fairness, transparency and whose lives are valued in the justice system.”
After the agent opened fire in October, Brown’s lawyers accused city police of misconduct because a DC police officer told a judge he was advised by a “unit team lead” not to document the shooting in a court record, according to a transcript of court proceedings. The shooting also was not mentioned in a police public incident report, and another officer checked “no” in the “shots fired” section of that document. Then-DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith forcefully denied the cover-up allegations.
Both incidents occurred as federal agents patrolled with city police as part of a federal law enforcement surge first ordered by Trump, then extended by DC Mayor Muriel E. Bowser. On October 17, DC police were driving a marked cruiser when they spotted a Dodge SUV with dark tinted windows and missing a front tag, according to court records. They were patrolling with officers from five federal agencies, including the FBI and Customs and Border Protection, court records show. The officers caught up with the Dodge and, according to court records, believe the driver was trying to flee. A Homeland Security Investigations agent shot into the car at Brown, 33.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the special agent fired at Brown “in fear for his life” after Brown drove at officers “in a deliberate attempt to run them down”. But DC police officer Jason Sterling told a judge none of the law enforcement officers were standing at Brown’s car. Brown bumped into a civilian vehicle stopped in front of him and his criminal attorney, Judkins, pointed out to the judge the bullets entered the car from the side, not the front.
Sterling testified that officers thought Brown planned to flee because the Dodge engine revved. Brown was arrested and charged with fleeing from a law enforcement officer, but a judge dismissed the charges over a lack of evidence.
About a month later on November 13, DC police and federal officers were again patrolling together when they saw a car run a red light at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Minnesota Aves SE just before 5pm, DC police reports and court records show. They turned on their emergency lights and sirens and tried to stop the silver Nissan Altima, according to a police report, but the driver fled.
The federal agents initiated a car chase, as DC police are barred from chasing cars unless they suspect the driver of committing a violent crime or putting other lives in danger. When heavy traffic forced the Nissan to stop, according to the report, law enforcement exited their cars to approach. The driver of the Nissan Altima reversed, the report said, striking a marked DC police cruiser as officers stood nearby. The Homeland Security Investigations agent shot at the car “at some point in this interaction”, DC Superior Court records show.
The Nissan then sped off again. During the chase, an unmarked federal car struck a public bus and the Nissan collided with a car uninvolved in the pursuit. The chase came to an end when the Nissan was “disabled” and no one was injured, according to a police report.
McLaughlin said the agent from “Ice Homeland Security Investigations” fired “in fear for her life” after the driver “intentionally drove his vehicle into a Metro Police vehicle and attempted to runover officers and a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations”. The driver of the Nissan, Justin Nelson, faces charges of felony assault on a police officer, fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving, leaving after colliding and driving on a suspended licence.
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