US government sees evidence: Video shows seconds before fatal shots

“I’m not mad”

At the beginning of the 47-second-long clip in portrait format, you can hear a car door opening, in the background: the wailing of sirens mixed with honking, engine noise, whistles and a babble of voices. From the officer’s perspective, you can see him walking around the woman’s Honda, which is parked in the middle of the street, coming from the passenger side. The 37-year-old is currently looking out the driver’s window in the opposite direction at the street. The officer continues walking and the car slowly reverses. The woman holds her left arm out the window and looks at the officer as he approaches. “It’s fine, Dude. I’m not mad,” she says, in German something like: “It’s fine, man. I’m not mad.”

The man continues to walk around the car; he is reflected in the windows and the paintwork: his cell phone in his left hand, his face half-hidden. Another woman, who is initially not in the picture, asks him to show his face. When he gets to the license plate, she says, “It’s okay, we don’t change our license plates every morning, just so you know.” Then the woman can be seen with a hat, sunglasses and an orange whistle around her neck, she is also holding a cell phone in her hand. “It will be the same license plate when you come to talk to us later.” And then: “It’s okay. US citizen. Damn former veteran.” It is unclear who she is referring to – in English these nouns have no gender, so it is also unclear whether she refers to a man or a woman.

Official says nothing

The person making the film, who doesn’t respond to the speech, moves on, back to the passenger side of the vehicle, the woman with the sunglasses between him and the standing Honda. “You want to mess with us? I’m telling you, get something to eat, big boy. Come on,” says the woman who US media have identified as the 37-year-old’s partner.

In the background, another officer approaches the driver’s side of the car. A man’s voice says, “Get out of the car. Get out of the damn car.” The woman with the sunglasses turns away from the filmer to the passenger door and takes the handle in her hand, but the door remains closed. The officer filming walks along the front of the Honda as it starts moving. First, reverse, turning the wheels of the vehicle so that it moves to the rear left.

Then the driver turns the steering wheel in the opposite direction, switches to forward gear, and the car drives off. Suddenly a man – obviously the officer because of the volume – shouts something like “Whohoo”, and there is also shouting in the background. Abruptly the camera points into the sky, banging noises can be heard, another scream. Shortly afterwards a man says: “Fucking bitch”. The camera has now turned back to the road and the car can be seen driving away from the scene until an impact is heard.

What the video doesn’t show

The video does not show where exactly the officer is standing when the car drives to the front right. It also doesn’t show whether the Honda is touching him. The Department of Homeland Security and the vice president still cite the video as evidence that the officer shot the driver because he was in danger and needed to defend himself. The “New York Times”, which evaluated other videos to reconstruct the incident, points out that in other recordings the officer can be seen to the left of the car, which turns to the right – away from it – when he shoots.