WASHINGTON — The labor union that represents U.S. Park Police is backing the officer involved in the deadly shooting of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin last month – a case that's now under federal civil rights investigation.
The Executive Board of the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement Thursday that Park Police policies were followed and that the officer who shot and killed Dalaneo Martin was within their legal rights to do so.
"Any death is tragic; we feel for the family," the union said in a statement. "However, Martin committed felonious acts by dragging a police officer attempting to cause serious bodily injury or death. Martin then kidnapped and trapped an officer inside the vehicle as he sped away at uncontrollable speeds, failing to adhere to verbal commands and pleas to stop the vehicle. Martin was a clear threat to Officer #1 as well as to the public. Our officers' actions are justified based on well-established case law, [Park Police] policies, and training. This is a tragic incident that could have ended much differently, had Martin just compiled. We fully support a fair and unbiased investigation into these events."
A Park Police officer shot and killed Dalaneo Martin on March 18 after Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers found him asleep in a car in D.C.’s River Terrace neighborhood. They believed the car was stolen.
Body camera footage, released Tuesday by Park Police and MPD, showed two Park Police officers enter the car Dalaneo Martin was in.
The video showed that when Dalaneo Martin woke up, he sped off with one officer still in the back seat of the car.
The officer then asked Dalaneo Martin to stop the vehicle.
“Stop,” the officer said. “Stop or I'll shoot."
The officer then fatally fires on Dalaneo Martin just one second later. The Martin family said their son was shot five times in the back.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. called Dalaneo Martin’s death “extremely upsetting” and added it would investigate further the circumstances that led up to his shooting.
“In coordination with the FBI Washington Field Office, the United States Attorney’s Office has opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances leading to Mr. Martin’s death,” a statement reads. “That investigation, which we are committed to conducting diligently and thoroughly, is ongoing. As this is an open matter, we are not able to provide additional comment or release further information at this time.”
The labor union, however, said the officers did all they could do before the shooting.
"After Officer #1 pleaded with Martin to stop and let him go, the vehicle continued to accelerate at uncontrollable speeds. Officer #1 had no choice and discharged his firearm, striking Martin and the vehicle crashed into a nearby home. A handgun was recovered inside the vehicle within close proximity to where Martin was seated," the union said in a statement.
The family said they're upset at the union bringing up the gun at all.
District senior officials said Tuesday it is still unclear who the gun in the car belonged to.
"There was never any threat for the use of guns," said Andrew O. Clarke, who represents the family.
Attorney Jade Mathis, who also represents the Martin family, declined to answer questions about who owned the car Martin was found in.
"That is not something we are discussing at this point or we're prepared to discuss at this point," she said. "All we know is he was in it and he was sleeping, which is not illegal."
Dalaneo Martin’s mother, Terra Martin, said she was still trying to wrap her head around her loss.
"He's my baby,” she said. “That's my baby."
Terra Martin added she wants all the officers involved in the case identified and punished.
"[The shooting officer] got in that car because he had another motive for my son,” she said.
Clarke said the family cannot even file a civil lawsuit yet since the officers have yet to be identified.
The process to identify the officers may take awhile, however.
The public did not learn which Park Police officers shot and killed Virginia man, Bijan Ghaisar, in Fairfax County, in 2017, for a year and a half.
Clarke said, "By any means necessary, [the shooting officer] was going to take him out of that vehicle, even if it meant taking his life."
>Read the full statement by the labor union below: