Family of Black Man Shot and Killed by White New Jersey State Trooper Calls for Transparency

The family of Maurice Gordon, who was shot and killed by a New Jersey State Police trooper over Memorial Day weekend, is pleading for more information after an attorney viewed a portion of police video of the traffic stop.

"As an initial matter, when you have family that is grieving, have a son that is killed unexpectedly by a police officer, you want to know the name of the killer, whether (Gordon) died on side of the road, in ambulance or at the hospital, whether there were first aid efforts," family attorney William O. Wagstaff III said over the weekend, per the Burlington County Times.

Wagstaff added that 28-year-old Maurice Gordon of Poughkeepsie, who is black, was unarmed when he was shot "multiple times" by the white state trooper. Furthermore, per Wagstaff, Gordon was handcuffed after being shot.

In a statement released last month, all the Attorney General's office offered was that an investigation was being conducted into what they described as "a fatal shooting involving the New Jersey State Police."

As a press release at the time clarified, the investigation—which also sees involvement from the Integrity Bureau within the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Bureau—is conducted in accordance with a January 2019 law requiring the office to "conduct investigations of a person's death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer's official capacity or while the decedent is in custody."

The latest word from the Attorney General's office was that an "initial investigation" had been completed, with public release of "audio and video recordings" to come.

Sign this petition calling for justice in the death of Maurice Gordon at the hands of New Jersey state police.