AUSTIN, Minn. – The family of Kokou Fiafonou, whom Austin police shot and killed at a gas-station last week, said he had mental issues but was no danger to anyone and was unarmed. A police report had claimed Fianonou had a machete at one point, that he threatened people, and that later he had a knife when he was shot. Michelle Gross, of the group United Against Police Brutality, called the sbooting “a wrongful death.” Gross, who has been working with the family, said: ”We are definitely saying that the police are lying.” She challenged police to release body camera video. Austin police do not wear body-cams but it’s thought that at least one dash-cam recorded what happened. The investigation has been turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Verbatim
Michelle Gross, family spokesperson: “”We feel strongly that this is a wrongful death. We’re appalled at the conduct of the Austin Police Department that not only left a man dead but that left the household of the whole family uninhabitable.”
Gross. Of Minneapolis-based United Against Police Brutality.
