Weeks ago, the small town of Elizabeth City, North Carolina was rocked by another police-involved shooting of an unarmed man named Andrew Brown Jr. Police had arrived to execute an arrest warrant on Brown, who had attempted to flee the scene when he was shot by officers.  Lawyers for Brown’s family suggested that the shooting was an “execution”, and demanded that authorities release body cam footage of the killing to the public. Now, the county’s district attorney has stated that, while the incident was certainly “tragic”, the police officers were justified in their use of force. North Carolina District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a press conference on Tuesday that the deputy-involved shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. “while tragic, was justified” – and no law enforcement officers will be criminally charged in the case. Womble, the elected district attorney for Judicial District 1, which covers seven counties of the northeastern part of the state, said that Brown was shot at by three Pasquotank deputies, whose actions were “justified because Brown’s actions caused deputies to reasonably believe it necessary to use force to protect themselves and others.” Womble began playing four body camera videos during the press conference, which was broadcast by several news outlets. Brown ignored deputies’ commands to stop and began to drive his car directly at one of the officers, Womble said. He said the first shot fired at Brown’s car went through the front windshield, not the back as was previously reported. The newly released portion of video was available online, and is graphic in nature. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1394751010938183684?s=20 There is no telling if the explanation will satisfy police reform protesters, however, and Elizabeth City could see renewed protests in the coming days.

Around the nation, businesses are reopening to full capacity, fans are filling the stadium stands, and bands are announcing their touring plans, thanks to the diminishing perception of a threat stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been a long time coming for Americans, and some carry with them a wee bit of trepidation still about the coming recovery. A new poll shows that many Americans are even having a hard time processing the CDC’s latest mask-guideline adjustment. A significant portion of the public still believes in wearing a mask outside regardless of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a recent survey. The survey indicates that forty-two percent of respondents believe everyone in their area should continue to wear a mask regardless of the CDC guidelines. Of the respondents, 39 percent said everyone should follow the CDC guidelines that state masks are only necessary outdoors when in crowds compared to only 19 percent of respondents who actually believe “everyone should do [what] they want regardless of guidelines.” And, somewhat surprisingly: Of those who believe in continuing to wear masks, broken down by party, the results were almost even; 36 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Democrats want everyone around them to wear masks. Of course, the distrust that Americans naturally have for their government shouldn’t be overlooked either, as their handling of the coronavirus pandemic has spawned a number of protests and lawsuits around the nation.