Linton Blackwell appeared to be urinating in the bushes outside a nightclub last year when an Atlanta police officer with a history of disciplinary action against him shot him 17 times in the back, according to a family member who was allowed to watch the body camera video.
“He was pissing in the bushes,” the family member said in an exclusive interview with Atlanta Black Star. “And the officer moved in and grabbed him by the collar, and (Blackwell) shook away from him.”
“He said something like, ‘I ain’t doing nothing,’” the family member continued. “And the officer jumped back and just opened fire on him.”
Blackwell, 44, a rapper known as B.Green, was killed on October 11 outside the Five Paces Inn in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. Police say Blackwell, a father of twin daughters, had been arguing with another patron before walking away.
The cop who killed him, Gerald Walker, was working off-duty security and was already under investigation for a previous shooting, reported Capital B News Atlanta.
Since the shooting, the agencies investigating the shooting; the Atlanta Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office have refused to release body camera footage to the public on the basis the incident is still “under investigation.”
But Blackwell’s family members protested to the Atlanta City Council, which passed a resolution allowing family members to watch the video, which they did last month.
The family member who spoke to Atlanta Black Star describes Blackwell falling into the bushes as Walker emptied his magazine and began reloading.
“Why are you shooting him that many times,” the family member describes Blackwell’s friend saying to the cop.
Walker pointed the gun at the friend, ordering him to “get back!”.
That friend and witness, William Stanley, was also killed on January 6 in DeKalb County in an unrelated incident, but police have not named any suspects.
The Shooting
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state agency investigating the shooting, issued a press release the following day stating that Walker first approached Blackwell because he was arguing with another patron outside the bar.
The press release insinuates that Blackwell was in possession of a gun without directly saying he had a gun.
The officer approached Blackwell, who walked away from the officer and towards a parking lot in the back of the business.
The officer followed Blackwell. Blackwell entered a car in the parking lot before putting an item in the small of his back. The officer approached Blackwell and gave him commands in reference to a gun. The officer discharged his weapon, hitting Blackwell.
Several officers provided aid to Blackwell.
Blackwell was pronounced dead on the scene.
A handgun was recovered on the scene.
Blackwell’s family member confirmed he was arguing with another patron while the cop was trying to keep them separated and at one point, Blackwell threw a paper cup at the other man but missed.
The family member said Blackwell then walked away towards his car, confirming he grabbed an object from his car and placed it in the small of his back but cannot say for certain it was a gun.
“You could see when he went to his car because the light came on,” the family member told Atlanta Black Star.
“He got something out, but I don’t know if it was a phone, a gun like they said, or his wallet. Whatever it was, it was kind of dark.”
The family member said Blackwell placed the item in the small of his back and walked to the bushes, where it appeared he was urinating, but she could not tell for sure because he had his back towards the camera.
And it did not appear as if Blackwell knew the cop was behind him because Walker appeared to have snuck up on him and grabbed his shoulder, prompting Blackwell to jerk away from him with his hands holding his penis, which is what led to his shooting.
The family member said officers then tried to apply first aid to Blackwell, but it was too late.
‘Playing the Stall Game’
But more than five months later, the investigating agencies have offered little comment to the public about the status of the investigation.
“They’ve been playing the stall game,” said Jimmy Hill, who was Blackwell’s cousin but has not viewed the video yet. “If the case was in favor of the officer, they would have made moves to bring forth the evidence.”
“And even if you assume he was armed, he wasn’t reaching for the firearm at the time.”
“He was not brandishing a gun, he was not pointing a firearm at anyone and he was not using a threatening word when the officer shot him. He had his back to the officer,” Hill continued.
“What caused this officer to fear for his life that he shot him 17 times in the back?”
Another person who watched the video was Erica, the mother of Blackwell’s children, who posted a statement about what she saw on an Instagram page titled justice4bgreen.
“The footage confirmed for me that Linton never stood a chance against the officer!” Erica wrote. “Linton didn’t argue with the officer, he didn’t obstruct the officer and they barely said two words to each other!!”
“With his hands up yelling, ‘I’m not doing anything,’ the officer took away a very important and loved human being.”
Hill, whose own son, Jimmy Atchison, was killed by Atlanta police, said the shooting of his cousin is just the latest death of a Black man at the hands of Atlanta police.
“Nine out of ten people killed by Atlanta police are Black,” he said.
“Black communities deserve more than just symbolic representation. We deserve real protection, we deserve true justice, and we deserve leaders who are not just present.”
He questions why Walker was even allowed to work off-duty if he was already under investigation for a previous shooting.
“That should have been a red flag,” Hill said.
Atlanta Black Star has requested the body camera video from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office but has not received it, and Hill pointed out that Georgia state legislators are in the process of making it even more difficult to obtain police body cameras by passing new laws.
“When it comes to these leaders in Atlanta, integrity, dignity, character and self-respect don’t seem to matter anymore,” Hill said.
“They choose the police culture over the safety of our community.”
