A grand jury has refused to bring criminal charges to a New Jersey police officer who shot a knife-wielding man during a standoff in Jersey Shore in the year 2020.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s office said late Tuesday that the actions of a sergeant at Asbury Park Police. Sean DeShader was justified under the circumstances, noting that Hasani Best carried a knife throughout the 45-minute standoff with police and was not deterred by a stun gun.
A spokesman for the Best family on Wednesday condemned the decision.
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“Attempts to demonize Hasani Best, who was needlessly murdered, and to acquit Officer Sean De Shader, who killed this black man on the spot after accounting for national civil rights in a post-George Floyd world, has changed nothing,” said CEO Randy Thompson. From the advocacy group they helped no handcuffs.
“There is still transparency when Police, prosecutors and judges They abuse their position and there is no protection for civilians under critical processes such as abuses in grand jury proceedings.”
On August 21, 2020, a neighbor called 911 to report a dispute. Police arrived and spoke with a witness who said she was assaulted by Best, who was inside the house with a knife, according to an account from the attorney general’s office.
The Hosni Best family hugs each other after a grand jury decided not to press charges against the police officer who killed a member of his family during a 45-minute standoff.
(AP Photo/Wayne Barry)
The police told Best several times to drop the knife and get out of the house. A special response unit was called, and while the officers awaited its arrival, Best “opened the door and, among other things, made a sudden movement as if to come toward the officers,” the statement read.
Shortly thereafter, while pointing with the knife, Best said, “I’m going to stab him.”
At that point, DeShader shot Best twice, fatally wounding him.
During a September 2020 news conference across the street from police headquarters, Best’s mother, Carol Sanders, said he didn’t deserve to be killed.
“He was talking to them and explaining his wounds and his feelings,” she said. “They didn’t have to take his life.”
According to the attorney general’s office, the shooting falls within the guidelines under which officers can use their weapons.
“An officer may use lethal force in New Jersey When the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or any other person from the danger of imminent death or serious bodily harm.”
The Best family is suing the officer, the city, and others in connection with the shooting.