Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato held a news conference Wednesday following Attorney General Steve Marshall’s recent decision that the Hoover police officer involved in the Thanksgiving night shooting at the Galleria was justified in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Emantin “E.J.” Bradford Jr.
“We respect the Attorney General’s findings and urge everyone to take the time to review the report in full,” Brocato said at the news conference. “We ask the Hoover community to continue to pray for everyone that has been affected by this tragic incident of late last year.”
Brocato said he talked to Bradford’s family a few days after the shooting. They told Brocato that they loved their son, and they explained to him that Bradford took care of his father.
“They’re hurting terribly, and we’re hurting for them,” he said. “We said early on that we wanted to be very transparent, we wanted to get to the truth, and this has been a long process. Everybody’s been waiting on this. So we’re glad it’s over. But it’s not over for them. They lost a son. And we’ll never forget that.”
In the months following the shooting, numerous protests have happened across Hoover. Brocato said the city will defend the individual’s right to protest.
“We will vigorously defend our city and our police officer,” he said. “We will vigorously defend the individual’s right to protest and their first amendment right. I think we have a very good track record of showing that.
“I think that we have shown good faith in making sure that — anyone that comes to our city and protests — that they are safe, and we’ll continue to do that,” he added.
Although the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has possession of most of the police body camera footage, one video from thee incident was released Tuesday. However, Brocato said this video doesn’t tell the full story.
“My reaction to the video is what I’ve said all along: you can’t tell the story through the video,” he said. “You have to look at it totally. You have to look at all of the facts. That’s what the Attorney General did, and that’s what we’ve said from day one. You’ve got to look at it as a complete book.”
Marshall’s full report can be found here.
