Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Mr. Bradford’s family, said that Mr. Bradford had one problem when the officer saw him holding a gun: He was black.
“It’s almost as if the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to black people,” Mr. Crump said in an interview on Monday.
Mr. Crump, who also appeared on CNN on Monday morning alongside Mr. Bradford’s parents, accused the officer of opening fire within “milliseconds” of encountering Mr. Bradford and without issuing verbal commands.
“If you happen to be black, police see you as a criminal and they shoot and kill you,” he said. “That has been shown in Chicago, and now here in Birmingham, Alabama, which is the epicenter of the civil rights movement.”
He added, “It does not matter if you are a good guy with a gun.”
Ms. Pipkins said that Mr. Bradford was instinctively a helpful person and was likely only trying to defend people at the mall.
“I will never be able to see my son’s face again, or to look into his eyes, or hear him say, ‘Mom, I love you,’” Ms. Pipkins said.
