(BLOOMFIELD—WTIC News) Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton joined the call for “Justice for Stevie” as he delivered a eulogy for Steven Jones, 55, of Hartford at The First Cathedral. Noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who’s representing the Jones family, and Connecticut NAACP president Scot Esdaile also spoke at the funeral.
Jones was fatally shot by a Hartford police officer last month on Blue Hills Ave. With Stevie having a mental crisis, his sister Audrey Jones had called 911 for an ambulance, but police arrived on scene first. Bodycam video provided by the state Inspector General shows three officers trying to get Stevie to drop a knife.
Sharpton and Crump say those officers appeared to have the scene under control when a fourth officer pulled up to the scene. Within thirty seconds, that fourth officer, Joseph Magnano, repeatedly yelled at Jones to drop the knife, then, with Jones walking slowly towards him, fired nine shots, fatally wounding him.
“If they (the three initial officers) didn’t start shooting, why did he (Magnano) come and start shooting?” asked Sharpton. “If they didn’t feel threatened, how did he feel threatened? How did the police that were there for minutes try to talk to Stevie, but you decided you’d come and execute Stevie? That just don’t make sense to me.”
Crump argues Magnano was not facing an imminent threat, used excessive force and even shot Jones while he was down:
“They had been out there trying to talk to Stevie,” said Crump. “Stevie was a big man. He couldn’t move very fast. They knew that was there no life-threatening situation where they had to kill him!”
“Once Stevie is on the ground, (Magnano) continues to shoot. Not once, not twice, but three more bullets into him while Stevie is on the ground. How can he be a threat when he’s on the ground, shot??”
The Hartford Police Union has called the shooting a case of justified self-defense. Magnano is on administrative leave as the Inspector General investigates.
About a week before the Jones shooting, Hartford police shot and killed city resident Everard Walker, 53, who also was holding a knife after family members called for assistance with his mental health crisis. The encounter devolved into a physical altercation between police and family members.
The shootings left Sharpton calling for change at the Hartford Police Department. He says police must do a better job relating to the mentally ill.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam attended the Jones funeral. He has faced public criticism in the wake of the Walker and Jones shootings. He will host a “town hall” style meeting with residents Friday at the main branch of the Hartford Public Library. It will start at 6:30 pm.
Sharpton also told the Jones family that he and Crump will stay on the case, saying, “We came to let this family know that we just did not come today, we’ll come back over and over again, because if you can shoot Stevie in cold blood, you can do it to one of our loved ones. This must be treated with justice.”
