Black council member says officer urinated on his property after he protested Andrew Brown Jr. shooting

A Black city council member is alleging that a law enforcement official urinated outside of a funeral home he owns in retaliation after he participated in protests following the fatal police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in North Carolina.

Elizabeth City Councilman Gabriel Adkins said that a uniformed sheriff’s deputy or deputies came to his business twice last week, urinating in sight of a surveillance camera outside of his funeral home.

He shared video of what he says is law enforcement appearing to urinate outside of a shed at the funeral home on Facebook. 

The Raleigh News & Observer first reported Adkins’s allegations.

“Since this case with Andrew Brown, I’ve been out protesting,” he told the outlet. “I really feel like they are retaliating back against me. Maybe they didn’t know I had surveillance, but it’s a funeral home.”

Brown, a 42-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies last month in Elizabeth City, N.C. Deputies were said to be attempting to serve an arrest warrant for felony drug charges against the man, who reportedly attempted to get in his car and leave the scene, at which point he was shot multiple times.

Prosecutors on Tuesday announced they would not be bringing charges against any of the officers, saying the shooting was “justified” because Brown had used a “deadly weapon” — his car — that endangered officers. Video shown by prosecutors showed Brown seeking to drive away from the officers. At times in the video, Brown is driving toward officers who are in front of his car. Brown’s son had earlier described the shooting as an execution after seeing a portion of the video.

Adkins, who has organized and attended demonstrations over Brown’s shooting, noted to The News & Observer that he is seeking legal advice and plans to press charges over his allegations that deputies urinated outside of his business.

“I’m just getting real worried I might be the next target, or they’re trying to set me up.” he said, “on top of it being a crime.” 

Adkins told The Washington Post that he is “completely furious that any member of the sheriff department would think these acts are acceptable.”

“This is a funeral home. A place where we house family’s loved ones. I have lost all trust and respect for our sheriff department,” he said.

The Hill has reached out to the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office for comment.