The Minneapolis Police Department has released a 27-second video documenting a portion of the encounter that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Black man named Dolal Idd.
Newly released body camera footage shows police cars attempting to box in Idd's car at a nearby gas station on Wednesday. Officers can be heard yelling at the 23-year-old driver and asking him to put his hands up. Given the brief nature of the video, it is difficult to determine what happened, but Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo has accused Idd of firing at the officers first.
"When I view the video that everyone else is viewing, and certainly the real-time, slow-down version, it appears the individual inside the vehicle fires his weapon at the officers first," he said.
***The video below contains graphic material***
Recent reports claim that officers were attempting to purchase a firearm from Idd at the time of the shooting. Due to previous arrests, Idd was barred from buying and selling firearms.
Idd's death was the first killing at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department since George Floyd in May. Initial movements suggested that the city's police department would be disbanded. However, city officials moved away from those calls for change in favor of creating a more "transparent" police force. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said that releasing the body camera footage was a step towards "rebuilding" trust between local residents and the police force.
"We know a life has been cut short tonight and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
"Rebuilding that trust will depend on complete transparency."
Dolal's death has sparked multiple days of protests in the area. With residents awaiting updates on the shooting of Jacob Blake Jr. and the trial of Derek Chauvin, protests will likely continue for weeks to come.
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