“I can’t believe you shot me, bro,” DeAnthony VanAtten, a young Black man, can be heard saying in body camera footage released Thursday by Michigan authorities. In the video, VanAtten lies handcuffed on the ground in a parking lot. “You shot me two times, bro.”
The 20-year-old, who survived the April 25 encounter with police outside an East Lansing grocery store, has since been treated for at least one gunshot wound and released from a local hospital. A subsequent push by local activists for accountability culminated in a Thursday press conference, where East Lansing Police Chief Kim Johnson released seven videos that captured the shooting on both body and surveillance cameras.
“We are releasing video footage of the incident here today as a part of our commitment to transparency,” Johnson said at the conference. “Building public trust means remaining present in these challenging times, engaging in tough conversations and being as transparent as possible with our community members.”
