Attorneys Ben Crump (left) and Bakari Sellers demanded the release of footage showing Tyrone Mason’s fatal crash, alleging serious police misconduct. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)
Prolific civil rights litigators Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers called on North Carolina’s leaders to let the public see footage of an Oct. 7 highway patrol chase that led to the death of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason.
Mason’s death has produced a shockwave through the state’s justice system. After it was discovered members of the North Carolina Highway Patrol falsely stated he died in an accident with no police pursuit, patrolman Garrett Macario and his supervisor Matthew Morrison were placed on leave. In January, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman dropped more than 180 traffic cases relying on their testimony, according to the News & Observer.
“We know that there was a lie from day one when they told her her son died as a result of a single-car accident,” Crump said. “When we’re here today, it’s to demand transparency. You don’t need to say no more — just show the video.”
Henrietta Mason, through tears, called for accountability for the death of her son, who is survived by four children of his own.
“I never thought my baby would leave this world before me,” she said. “All that we ask is that everyone come together and get justice for my son, Tyrone Mason.”
As soon as police told her that her son died in an accident with no witnesses, she knew the story was false, she said — and that instead, “someone on the force had to be chasing my son.”
She sent hundreds of emails seeking answers from various government agencies before making contact with Raleigh attorney Sean Cecil, who pressed her case. She also went directly to the Wake County District Attorney’s office to share her concerns, eventually triggering the State Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the troopers’ actions. Her advocacy also drew the attention of Crump and Sellers, nationally acclaimed civil rights attorneys aiming to shine a spotlight on Tyrone Mason’s story.
What drew Sellers to the case was in part a belief that it stems from a larger culture of misconduct and concealment within the State Highway Patrol — in his research, he said he has discovered a number of other cases in which troopers failed to render aid following police chases. He urged the Stein and Jackson to conduct a thorough examination of the Highway Patrol.
“As we’re digging, we’re understanding that it’s not just about Tyrone Mason, that this actually is a culture,” he said. “The question has to be asked from the top to the bottom about what their policies and procedures are about chases, et cetera, and what they’re supposed to do on the scenes.”
Sellers said that process of accountability starts with showing the people of North Carolina what happened in that Oct. 7 police chase, he said — and specifically, what in the footage was so concerning that it led to the dismissal of nearly 200 other cases.
“I want my good friend Jeff Jackson, I want my good friend Governor Stein to actually open their eyes and pay attention to what’s going on with their state highway patrol,” he said. “Josh Stein and Jeff Jackson could simply say today that we are going to release those videos. They can make sure that these officers are arrested. They can make sure that these officers are fired.”
Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for Jackson, said the attorney general’s office is not currently involved in Mason’s case, nor does it have the authority to release the footage.
“Under North Carolina law, the law enforcement agency that is the custodian of those records must petition the court for its release,” Ahmed wrote in an email. “Additionally, the attorney general’s office does not have oversight of law enforcement agencies and district attorney’s offices.”
Sellers and Crump expect to file a lawsuit related to Mason’s death in the coming days.
Spokespeople for Stein and the State Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“We know something happened here that is more than they are telling us,” Crump said. “They would not have dismissed those cases if there were not something that on that video, from the dash cam and from the body cam that was just god-awful. They don’t just drop cases like that.”