A prosecutor will not charge the officers who shot and killed a black man in Minneapolis last year because the man, who had an active arrest warrant, drew a weapon and fired at officers.
The undercover US Marshals were 'reasonable and justified' in their actions, according to Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan. 'Their conduct was clearly in response to an apparent threat of death or great bodily harm.'
Winston 'Boogie' Smith, a 32-year-old father of two, was shot inside a loaned SUV in the top floor of a parking garage around 2pm on June 3. A search of the vehicle later revealed a handgun and six fired cartridges.
His killing drew more fiery protests in Minneapolis, which was still inflamed from last year's police killing of George Floyd, a couple of miles from where Smith was killed.
Smith was killed in Hennepin County, but the county attorney sent the case to Crow Wing County to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
A prosecutor has decided not to charge the US Marshals who shot and killed 'Boogie' Smith
The father of two had just left a lunch date at Stella's in Minneapolis when he was killed in June
Authorities caught up with him at the parking lot above. Smith had an active warrant out for failing to show up to court, where he was expecting a four-year sentence on a gun charge
The identities of the officers who shot Smith are unknown.
'Though I am unable to determine who fired first, it is irrelevant in this case,' Ryan wrote in a letter dated October 6 but released Monday, according to the Star Tribune.
'Once an individual initiates a deadly force confrontation, a law enforcement officer does not have to wait to be shot/shot at before reacting.'
Ryan said the US Marshals Service's Northstar Violent Offender task force began looking for Smith after May 19, when he failed to show up in court for a sentencing.
Smith was expected to get a four-year sentence for illegal possession of a firearm, to be served concurrently with an underlying aggravated robbery case, the prosecutor wrote.
A warrant was issued May 20 and officers caught up with him on June 3 after spotting his car atop a parking garage near Stella's Fish Café, where he had a lunch date.
'The identity of Smith, and the connection to the vehicle, were confirmed with recent social media videos. Some of these videos, and other posts, contained content of Smith pulling a handgun out of his pants; and Smith stating that he possessed guns and drugs for sale,' Ryan wrote.
Smith's family expressed outrage at Ryan's decision.
Marshals said they used Smith's social media to help determine where he was. He had posted recent videos selling drugs and guns before his death, according to a county prosecutor
Smith had told his date, who was in the car with him when he was shot, that he did not want to go back to jail and that he was going to die, according to a letter released Monday
'They had no reason to kill this man,' cousin Marshawn Cheeks told the Star Tribune.
'It's very relevant who fired first.'
Ebony Kirkman, another cousin, told the
