Alabama State Rep. Juandalynn Givan said Monday the family of Jabari Peoples should be allowed to see body cam footage as soon as possible.
Givan, D-Birmingham, also denounced threats of violence and intimidation toward any officer involved in the deadly shooting or investigators probing the incident.
Givan also blamed the lawyer for Peoples’ family for delaying the sharing of the footage, an accusation the attorney said was “politicizing” the 18-year-old’s fatal shooting.
Givan helped write and support the bill that Gov. Kay Ivey in 2023 signed into law that allows the disclosure of body camera footage to the “personal representative” of “an individual whose image or voice is the subject of the recording.”
The law does not require a law enforcement agency to share the footage if it would affect an ongoing investigation.
“I believe we need to give the family video, but I do not agree with any call to action for anyone to bring harm to anyone they think is involved, to the officer they think is the officer in question, to show up at anyone’s for any type of retaliation without seeing the body-worn camera and working through this process,” said Givan, who is running for Birmingham mayor, at a Monday press conference.
Givan says state investigators have not shared the video, given to them by Homewood police, because of statements and court filings by Leroy Maxwell, the attorney for the Peoples’ family.
Maxwell said it is that law Givan helped pass, not any statements he has made, that is hindering the release of the video.
Peoples, a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School where he was a standout athlete, was shot June 23 in Homewood Soccer Park.
Homewood police say a veteran officer, who has not been publicly identified, approached the vehicle to investigate because of a recent increase in criminal activity in and around the city’s athletic complexes.
The officer, police say, smelled marijuana and ordered Peoples and his female friend out of the vehicle.
The encounter ended with Peoples resisting, breaking away from the officer as he tried to handcuff him, and grabbing a gun from the driver’s side door pocket, police say.
The officer shot Peoples, who was pronounced dead a short time later at UAB Hospital.
Peoples’ family and attorney Maxwell disagree with that narrative, saying that Peoples wasn’t armed and didn’t resist.
The Homewood Police Department turned the investigation over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is standard policy for many officer-involved shootings.
ALEA denied the family’s request to see the footage, saying release of the video footage would jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
There have been several protests following the fatal shooting, including at the Homewood Police Department, ALEA’s office in west Homewood, Homewood City Hall and at various times and locations during the World Police and Fire Games held last week in the Birmingham area.
“The problem with this situation occurred when the City of Homewood, with all due respect, made the decision to provide for an independent investigation,” Givan said.
“They did so, however, after they informed the family that they would allow them to come in and see it.”
“Once they made that determination to turn it over to ALEA…Homewood at that point stopped being the custodian of record with regards to that body camera. ALEA is the custodian,” she said.
Givan said she reached out last week to ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor in her capacity as a state legislator, and believed she was making progress.
However, she said, a statement released by Maxwell last week saying Peoples had been shot in the back, as well as petition filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court, hindered her efforts to get the footage shown to the family.
“One of the main issues was accusations being hurled at (ALEA) and their role,” Givan said. “To avoid those type of issues would have given (the family) a better chance of seeing it.”
“At that point, ALEA decided not to move forward in any kind of way to allow for release of the body cam,” she said.
Maxwell responded to Givan’s statements.
“Representative Givan is putting up smoke and mirrors in an attempt to distract from the fact that she is solely responsible for the Peoples’ family not being able to view body cam footage,” Maxwell said.
“ALEA cited the law she sponsored as the reason they are not releasing the footage. This is why elections matter, and we must carefully vet who we elect.”
“The Peoples family ask Representative Givan to stop politicizing this tragedy,” Maxwell said. “She and her legislation have done enough harm to the justice for Jabari movement.”
Givan said she discussed the matter with Ontario Tillman, also a state representative and Maxell’s law partner.
Tillman, D-Birmingham, told AL.com Monday he fully supports everything Maxwell has done to help the Peoples’ family get access to the footage.
“It’s an ongoing situation and it’s fluid,” Tillman said.
“While we can appreciate Rep. Givan for trying to assist us with receiving the tapes from ALEA, but I believe in what he’s (Maxwell) doing and I stand behind him and we support him because the end goal is to get justice for Jabari and I think he’s going about it in the right way.”
Givan said she has not seen the video.
“I have been told that when the body cam is made public, it will be made crystal clear what happened that night,” she said. “I don’t want to speculate.”
Once ALEA finishes its investigation, agents will turn over the findings to Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr.
Carr told AL.com Monday that it’s always been his policy to allow family members to see any available footage.
“Everybody knows I let the family see it, good, bad or indifferent, once I get it and review it,” he said.
Carr said he has not spoken to ALEA about the case and has no idea when the findings will be turned over to his office.
Peoples’ Celebration of Life & Legacy will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Aliceville City Hall.
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