Police, widows of officers killed in Charlotte oppose release of Galway Drive videos
Numerous local and national media outlets have requested police video of the April 29 Charlotte shootout that left four law-enforcement officers dead.
But two of the slain officers’ widows and police are asking a Mecklenburg judge to deny release of any video, saying it would further traumatize victims and isn’t something the public is demanding to see.
About 200 police officers and two widows of officers killed in the shootout attended an emotional court hearing June 4 stemming from a request by Queen City News, WSOC-TV and WCNC-TV asking a Mecklenburg Superior Court judge to review and release more than 1,100 law-enforcement body camera videos from the shootout.
Judge David Strickland will make a decision on whether to release all, some or none of the video in response to that petition and a similar request filed in court by The Charlotte Observer, The Assembly, The New York Times, ABC News and Spectrum News.
A U.S. marshals task force made up of federal, state and local officers was attempting to arrest Terry Hughes on felony warrants in the April 29 operation when Hughes opened fire with an AR-15 rifle.
Three task force members died: Sam Poloche and William “Alden” Elliott, who were state Department of Adult Correction officers, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. “Tommy” Weeks Jr. Officer Joshua Eyer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, one of many who responded to help after Hughes opened fire, was also killed. Four other officers were shot and injured.
Khalif Rhodes, an attorney representing Queen City News in the June 4 hearing, said there was compelling public interest in releasing video footage to media. He said CMPD’s bodyworn camera policy says recordings are for transparency and accountability.
“I think any time loss of human life occurs, there’s immediately and instantly public interest in that situation regardless of whether it’s law enforcement officers or individuals from the public,” Rhodes said. “The public continues to be interested in this moment.”
Eyer’s wife, Ashley Eyer, and Weeks’ wife, Kelly Weeks, spoke at the June 4 hearing, saying they have been traumatized by the incident and any release of police video would be online in perpetuity. Ashley Eyer said she was confident law enforcement could review video internally to learn any necessary lessons.
CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings, the Mecklenburg district attorney’s office, U.S. Attorney Dena King, the U.S. marshals, and other agencies oppose release of any police video from the incident.
In previous cases in which police video was released, like an arrest in 2023 of a couple who were sitting at a bus stop after working at a Bojangles’, there were questions over conduct of officers, CMPD attorney Jessica Battle said in court.
But the April 29 shootout is different because there is no allegation of wrongdoing or friendly fire by police, she said, and the public isn’t demanding to see footage.
There are more than 345 hours of footage, and the judge has the right to review all of it before deciding whether to release any. If the judge wants any video released, review and redactions could take months.
“There is no compelling interest to watch a barrage of gunfire in an ambush as all of these officers who stand before you, and ... fallen officers, took on that particular day,” Battle said in court June 4. “... In all my time as an attorney in the criminal justice system in Mecklenburg County, I have never seen recordings more graphic. There is nothing but death and destruction that appears in these videos.”
Two of the widows of officers killed said they have received harassing letters at their homes in which an anonymous writer celebrated the deaths of their husbands.
“If the media shares these graphic details from April 29, these individuals will weaponize the footage to further torment and threaten our families,” Kelly Weeks said in court June 4.
Several police officers spoke in court, saying they have declined the opportunity to watch their own bodycam footage from April 29, are suffering from trauma as a result of the incident, and do not want anyone to see what they had to see that day. If video is released, they said, it would force them to re-live trauma because it would be on the news and in social media.
