The Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump, who represented George Floyd’s family, will speak at Tuesday’s memorial for a white teenager shot and killed last month by an Arkansas police officer — a case that has drawn the attention of civil rights activists across the nation.
Sharpton planned to deliver the eulogy at the memorial for Hunter Brittain, the 17-year-old who was shot dead by a Lonoke County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop June 23.
Crump and another attorney for Floyd’s family, Devon Jacob, are representing Brittain’s family.
The Arkansas State Police is investigating Brittain’s fatal shooting by Sgt. Michael Davis, who was fired by Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley last week for not turning on his body camera until after the shooting. Staley said the only footage police have is from the aftermath. Davis is white.
The shooting in predominantly white Lonoke County has drawn the attention of Sharpton and other civil rights activists and follows nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice last year following the killing of Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned his neck to the ground for more than nine minutes.
Authorities have released few details about the shooting. Brittain’s family has said the teenager was unarmed and was holding a jug of antifreeze. Brittain’s family and friends have held protests nightly outside the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office and have complained about the lack of information released.
ArLuther Lee of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
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