A judge on Thursday denied requests from numerous news outlets for body camera footage of the April 29 shooting in east Charlotte that left four law enforcement officers dead.
Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge David Strickland said in a draft order that publicly viewing the footage would “harm the reputation or endanger the safety of any person,” among other factors in his decision to block the release of the police videos to refuse.
He wrote that the media had not demonstrated a compelling public interest “as the court is not aware of any conduct of a public official that is at issue.”
“Mr. Hughes was the bad actor in this situation and no one questions the actions of law enforcement,” Strickland wrote.
Terry Clark Hughes Jr. opened fire on members of the U.S. Marshals Service task force after officers arrived to arrest him on a felony warrant that day.
“Widows are receiving hate mail in their mailboxes,” Strickland wrote. “Messages telling them that their husband deserved to die and that they should rot in hell. The Court believes that if the body camera footage were made public, these families would receive more hate mail.”
The judge asked a question: What happens to a twelve-year-old who googles his dead father’s name and sees his murder on YouTube?
“The Court does not know the answer to that question, but it does believe that this will impact a child’s mental health — even if it continues for years,” Strickland said. The order did not yet appear in online court records but was shared with attorneys.
The Charlotte Observer, ABC News, The New York Times and Spectrum News requested the April 29 footage in a June 6 petition filed by attorney Mike Tadych.
Previously, several local television news channels requested the images in a separate petition.
Two widows of slain officers attended a hearing earlier this month to oppose the release. About 200 police officers also attended the hearing.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings thanked Strickland for his decision in a social media post.
“As I have said all along, there is no compelling public interest in releasing this footage,” the chief said. “On behalf of CMPD, I would like to thank the judge for doing the right thing.”
