The grandfather of a man who was shot and killed by the Tennessee National Guard in Memphis over the weekend says he wants answers from law enforcement. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Evaniel Johnson said he is waiting to see if video footage supports the police narrative that his 20-year-old grandson, Tyrin Johnson, turned toward U.S. guard members with a gun while running from them early Sunday. Memphis police say the guard members were responding to a report of gunfire.
The National Guard members had been assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis created last year by President Donald Trump, who has sent troops and federal agents to Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden.
"Show me the video," Evaniel Johnson told The Associated Press. "Please show me that — and then I'm OK. Until you show me that, I'm gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there's no breath in me."
Johnson, a former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville, disputes that his grandson would have tried to fire a gun at U.S. guard members and that deadly force would be needed if he was running away. His grandson, he said, was "no hoodlum."
According to his grandfather, Tyrin Johnson carried a gun for protection after being "jumped" recently in Nashville and was likely wary about being attacked again over a murky social media feud.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it is reviewing the shooting and that two guard members fired their weapons. Johnson's family says they were told by the TBI that he was shot twice in the chest. The Memphis Police Department declined to comment on what footage existed and when it would be released.
The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the two members involved in the shooting had been placed on leave.
Tennessee Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari and Chairwoman London Lamar, both of Memphis, issued a joint statement expressing their sympathy and emphasizing the need for transparency during the investigation. They asked the TBI to release any available video as soon as it is possible to do so without jeopardizing the investigation.
"Transparency serves everyone — the Johnson family, the members of the National Guard involved, and a community that deserves confidence in the outcome, whatever the facts ultimately show," they wrote.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat running for the U.S. House, also demanded the release of the video.
