JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville-based human rights group released video Wednesday showing the aftermath of a police shooting in the Moncrief area that left a man hospitalized.
The Kemetic Empire said it is requesting that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office investigate the shooting of the unarmed man during a traffic stop.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Officer Serge Paul fired two shots at Keith Crowder, striking him twice, during a traffic stop on West 32nd Street. Both Paul and Crowder are black.
“We're saying it's systematic,” said Diallo Sekou, of the Kemetic Empire. “Whether the cop was black or white he still represents a power structure that will gun down unarmed men with no recourse. We're beyond asking. We need to get some things done in this city immediately.”
Sekou's group released video that showed the moments after the shooting, including a witness crying out, "Why did y'all shoot him? He didn't do nothing!"
News4Jax obtained the video last week, but chose not to show it then at the request of Crowder's girlfriend.
WATCH: Cellphone video of shooting aftermath
Ben Frazier, of the Jacksonville-based news website "The Black Viewpoint," recorded an interview with Crowder shortly before Crowder had surgery at the hospital.
In the interview, Crowder said he had his hands up and was saying, “Don't shoot; don't shoot,” when Paul fired at him.
“Everybody said, 'Don't shoot,' and next thing you know, he shot me – twice -- for no reason," Crowder said in the interview. "I'm trying to figure out why he was going to shoot me so close up. It went below my heart and an inch from my spine."
Sekou said that Crowder's account and the accounts of witnesses Sekou's group interviewed the next day do not match what police said happened. He called for the arrest of Officer Serge Paul, who shot Crowder, on charges of excessive force or attempted murder.
Sekou added that no NSO officer has been charged in a police-involved shooting in 40 years.
"We're beyond asking. We need to get some things done in this city immediately," Sekou said.
Police said that after Crowder was pulled over about 9 p.m. for speeding on West 32nd Street, near Golfair Boulevard, Crowder got out of the vehicle. Paul, who was in uniform, then exited his patrol car and ordered Crowder to get back inside the car, Undersheriff Pat Ivey said.
Ivey said when Crowder did not comply, other commands were given and Crowder still did not comply.
That's when Paul fired his handgun twice and Crowder was hit in the upper body, Ivey said. Crowder was taken to UF Health Jacksonville in life-threatening condition.
Crowder was the only person inside the vehicle, and after obtaining a search warrant, officers found marijuana and a .45-caliber handgun inside the driver's side door on the floorboard.
Sekou said witnesses told his group that Paul actually commanded Crowder to get out of the vehicle slowly with his hands up. He said Crowder did and that, according to witnesses, Paul ran up and shot him from 6 feet away.
“These officers have been operating with impunity when it comes to shooting unarmed black men,” Sekou said. “So we need the FBI, Department of Justice and everybody else to come in and investigate this shooting, the JSO office and also the State Attorney's Office for allowing these officers to operate with impunity when it comes to shooting, police brutality, excessive force on the black community.”
Frazier, who is also a member of a local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said his group is also concerned about what it sees as possible excessive use of force by Paul in shooting Crowder.
“News reports of eyewitnesses and Mr. Crowder pleading for the officer not to shoot, are extremely disturbing and prompts us to continue SCLC’S call for an honest, thorough outside, independent, third party, impartial investigation,” Frazier wrote in a news release. “SCLC is concerned that previous reports of racial disparity in law enforcement in Jacksonville have fallen on deaf ears.”
Frazier said that “use of force” is supposed to be a police officer’s last option when safety is in question. Frazier said the SCLC questions whether Crowder was a danger to anyone when he was shot.
City Councilwoman Katrina Brown and other council members met with constituents about the possibility of forming a citizens' review board that would review these types of shootings. The Sheriff's Office has never wanted to employ such a board, but Brown said she wants the city to consider the idea and could enter a proposal to make it happen.
Crowder has three previous arrests in Duval County on charges of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and domestic battery, strong-arm robbery and battery, and violation of probation.