The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) announced Tuesday that it has obtained a new cellphone video of the June 2021 shooting of Winston Smith.
Smith was shot in Minneapolis by members of a U.S. Marshals task force who were attempting to arrest him on a bench warrant connected to his failure to appear for sentencing in an illegal firearm possession case.
Although the shooting took place in the city of Minneapolis, Crow Wing County was asked to review the case to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.
“The TF (task force) was readily identifiable when informing Smith he was under arrest and ordering him to exit his vehicle (as well as other commands). Smith failed to comply with the lawful orders,” Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan said in October 2021. “As the TF was attempting to gain entrance into his vehicle, Smith initiated a deadly force confrontation with the TF by drawing his handgun and firing at the TF. This resulted in the TF using deadly force in response.”
Ryan determined that the conduct of the task force “was clearly in response to an apparent threat of death or great bodily harm.”
“As a result, the use of deadly force was authorized under Minnesota law in this case and no criminal prosecution is warranted,” he said.
In its Tuesday press release, the BCA said agents with the Force Investigation Unit learned during their 2021 investigation that Smith may have tried to record or livestream a video during the incident.
Despite using the best technology available at the time, they could not unlock the phone and could not confirm that the video existed, the BCA said.
After learning that another entity may have accessed the phone and found video, BCA agents re-obtained it from the sheriff’s office and on Nov. 13, 2023, once again installed unlocking software. Since that time, the software tried more than 780,000 password combinations. On Nov. 21, 2024, it unlocked the phone.
BCA digital evidence examiners retrieved a video from the phone and can now independently confirm that it captures the incident, the BCA said in its press release. The agency provided that video and associated reports on Nov. 24 to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which now has custody of the case file.
“Our accredited digital evidence laboratory uses the most advanced unlocking software available to law enforcement,” said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “Lawful access to evidence that is thwarted by evolving encryption technology is a constant challenge.”
The video has been provided to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office for review.
“After accessing the video on Winston Smith’s phone, the BCA immediately informed our office and provided it to us. It is currently under review. We appreciate the BCA’s due diligence and promptness in sharing the video after it was recovered. We will communicate further updates as available,” Moriarty said in a statement.
Once the review is complete, the BCA will make the video public and add it to the existing case file.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
