Chicago activist demands footage from police shooting

Harith Augustus, 37, was fatally shot Saturday afternoon

CHICAGO — A community activist who has pushed for more police transparency said Monday that he’s asked Chicago police for the body camera footage from all officers at the scene where one of them fatally shot a black man over the weekend.

William Calloway said a brief video released by police showing the view from one officer’s body camera does not answer crucial questions, starting with the reasons officers approached 37-year-old Harith Augustus Saturday afternoon just before he was shot. Calloway also said that a police spokesman’s explanation that Augustus was “exhibiting characteristics of an armed person” does not justify stopping someone in a city and state where it is legal to carry a concealed weapon.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Sunday that detectives have found no documentation that Augustus had a concealed carry permit, but Calloway said there is no way officers at the scene could have known that when they approached him.

A department spokesman, Tom Ahern, said officers have the right to pat a person down on the street if they are concerned about their own safety.

“They can’t start digging through their pockets … but they can pat down the outside of their clothes.”

The video released by police did not include sound, so it is impossible to hear what was said by either Augustus or any of the four officers at the scene. It shows one of the officers trying to grab the arm of Augustus, who spins and runs away with a clearly visible holstered gun on his hip.