In the summer of 2019, a 20-year-old African American man named Brandon Webber was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement in Memphis, Tennessee. The events leading to his death began to unfold on June 3, 2019, when a man in Hernando, Mississippi, was shot multiple times and had his red Infiniti sports coupe stolen after arranging to sell it to someone he met on Facebook. Authorities traced the Facebook messages and identified Webber as a suspect in the car theft and attempted murder.
On the early evening of June 12, 2019, a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, acting on a tip, located Webber in the Frayser neighborhood of North Memphis. They found him in his mother's driveway. According to the official account from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, as the five white officers in helmets and bullet-resistant vests attempted to apprehend him, Webber rammed his car into one of their vehicles. He then allegedly exited his car with a pistol-grip tactical rifle. Officers reported hearing shouts of 'Gun! Gun! Gun!' before they opened fire. Webber was struck by multiple gunshots and died at the scene. An investigation later found the Infiniti riddled with more than 20 bullet holes. Photographs from the investigation show a semi-automatic rifle on the pavement next to the open door of the car.
Webber's death sparked significant unrest in the Frayser community. Some eyewitness accounts disputed whether he had a weapon, leading to tensions and clashes between residents and police. The incident drew the attention of the NAACP's Memphis branch, which made a formal inquiry into the shooting. Friends and family of Webber remembered him as a talented art student who had graduated from Central High School in 2017 and was attending the University of Memphis at the time of his death. He was also a father of two. His father publicly stated that the accusations against his son were untrue.
In the aftermath, the District Attorney announced that no charges would be filed against the officers involved in the shooting. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of Webber's family, with their attorney arguing that the law enforcement tactics used in a residential neighborhood were impetuous and reckless. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's report on the incident painted Webber as a violent criminal, while his family's legal team contended that the fatal shooting was unnecessary.
