Soulemane’s family said he struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and his mental health problems worsened in the days leading as much as the January 2020 shooting.
MILFORD, Conn. – A white Connecticut state trooper was acquitted Friday of all charges in the death of Mubarak Soulemane, a 19-year-old black college student who was shot as he sat behind the wheel of a stopped, stolen automobile while holding the kitchen. knife and is seemingly experiencing a mental crisis.
Trooper Brian North, 33, would have faced as much as 40 years in prison if convicted of first-degree manslaughter in the shooting that occurred Jan. 15, 2020. The state’s inspector general said the shooting shouldn’t have happened because North and others the officers weren’t in immediate danger. However, a six-person Milford jury acquitted him of that charge and two lesser charges: second-degree murder and negligent homicide.
North showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. He then shook hands along with his lawyers and hugged the head of the state police union. North made no comment as he left court, but his lead attorney, Frank Riccio II, said the officer was still shaken by the shooting.
This 2018 photo shows Mubarak Soulemane, who was shot by a Connecticut State Police trooper as he sat behind the wheel of a stolen automobile while holding a kitchen knife. (Omo Mohammed via AP))
“It won’t be something he will ever experience because it was a very traumatic experience,” Riccio said. “The verdict is obviously favorable to him, but it does not change what happened on January 15.”
Soulemane’s relatives and friends, including his mother and sister, declined to comment after leaving the courthouse. Mark Arons, the family’s lawyer, said he was devastated by the verdict.
“We have questions about whether justice was fully served and received here,” Arons said. “The soldier will live his life and Mubarak will never come back.”
He said the verdict represents one other tragedy for the family but is not going to affect the family’s lawsuit against North and other officers at the scene that day.
“During the trial, they had to relive all the horrific events that took place that terrible afternoon and early evening. And then to hear a verdict of acquittal on all three counts and once again it is a tragic loss.”
The case caught the attention of the local NAACP and Reverend Al Sharpton, but race was not brought up as an element in the shooting during the trial.
Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP, called the acquittal “a grave atrocity.”
“Very disappointing. It’s a huge failure. Shame on the jury,” Esdaile said by phone. “They didn’t have to murder this young man. I think it’s a disgusting decision.”
On the day of the shooting, North fired a gun at close range into the automobile window seven times after Soulemane led police on a multi-town chase on Interstate 95. The shooting occurred lower than a minute after the automobile collided with one other vehicle in West Haven, ending the chase, and the police surrounded the automobile.
North testified that he fired when Soulemane pulled out a 9-inch knife and made a threatening move. He said he believed Soulemane posed a threat to law enforcement officials who were on the other side of the automobile and had just smashed the passenger door window.
But Inspector General Robert Devlin, who investigates all police use of deadly force in the state, said no officers were in danger because the stolen automobile was secured and Soulemane couldn’t drive anywhere. He added that the officers didn’t attempt to defuse the situation.
Meanwhile, the state police union criticized Devlin for charging North, saying he was forced to make a split-second decision and believed he was protecting other officers.
Devlin released an announcement after the hearing saying that while his office was disenchanted with the verdict, it respected the jury’s decision.
According to his family, Soulemane struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His mother, sister and girlfriend, who testified at the trial, said that in the days before the shooting, Soulemane’s mental problems were worsening and he was acting paranoid and erratic – something he had already displayed when he stopped taking his medication.
According to police, the events that led to Soulemane’s death began with a knife display at an AT&T store in Norwalk and an unsuccessful try and steal a cellular phone. He then struck the Lyft driver and drove off in his automobile after the driver got out, leading police on a 30-mile (48-kilometer) chase from Norwalk to West Haven during the afternoon rush hour at speeds of as much as 100 mph (161 km/h).
State Police body camera videos show that after the case was over, a West Haven officer smashed the passenger door window of the stolen vehicle, after which one other officer, Joshua Jackson, shot Soulemane with a stun gun through the window, though it had no effect on Soulemane , who was wearing a thick coat.
North testified that he fired his gun because he believed the West Haven officer – whom he had not seen – was leaning out of the broken window and was in danger from Soulemane, who was holding a knife.
“I was afraid he would be stabbed in the face or neck, which of course could result in death,” North testified.
During the hearing, Devlin said video footage showed the other officers didn’t try and enter the vehicle, and asked North if he still believed anyone was actually in danger.
“Not from what I have seen now and after hearing the testimony. But at this point I see there was a danger,” North said.
In a lawsuit against the officers, Soulemane’s mother, Omo Mohammad, offered to settle the wrongful death case for $13 million.
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The post White soldier who shot seven times at close range into the driver’s window was acquitted in the death of Mubarak Soulemane first appeared on 360WISE MEDIA.