[ad_1]
Asbury Park, NJ — A grand jury declined to indict a New Jersey police officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding man during a 2020 altercation at the Jersey Shore.
The New Jersey attorney general’s office said late Tuesday that the actions of Asbury Park police Sgt. Sean DeShader was vindicated in this case, pointing out that Hassani Best held a knife throughout the 45-minute standoff with police and was not shocked by the stun gun.
A spokesman for Best’s family condemned the decision on Wednesday.
“Efforts to demonize Hassani Best, who was needlessly killed, and attempts to justify Officer Sean DeShader, who killed this black man immediately following a national civil rights reckoning, tell us that nothing has changed in a post-George Floyd world,” said Randy Thompson. of the advocacy group Help Not Handcuffs.
“Transparency does not continue when police, prosecutors and judges abuse their positions, and civilians lack protections in critical processes such as abuses within grand jury proceedings,” he said.
On August 21, 2020, a neighbor called 911 to report an argument. Police arrived and spoke with a witness who said Best attacked him with a knife inside the home, according to an incident report from the attorney general’s office.
Police told Best several times to drop the knife and leave the house. A special response unit was called, and while officers waited for its arrival, Best “opened the door and, among other things, made a sudden motion as if he was going to come toward the officers,” the statement said.
Moments later, Best said, gesturing with the knife, “I’m going to stab him.”
At that point, Dishader mortally wounds Best.
At a September 2020 news conference across the street from police headquarters, Best’s mother, Carol Sanders, said he did not deserve to be killed.
“He talked to them and explained his pain and feelings,” she said. “They didn’t have to take his life.”
According to the attorney general’s office, the shooting falls within guidelines for officers using weapons.
“In New Jersey an officer may use deadly force when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger or serious bodily harm,” the office said.
Best’s family is filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against the officer, the city and others in connection with the shooting.
———
Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
[ad_2]
Source link
