Rev. Alan Mainor, local president of Racial Justice Network, has called for a federal investigation in the shooting death of Maurice Mincey, just days after the Chatham County District Attorney announced she wouldn’t press charges in the police-involved shooting.

The network, a local justice group, held a press conference Friday in Johnson Square to address the recent findings on the fatal shooting that occurred on July 17, 2021. 

On Tuesday, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones announced she would not press criminal charges against the Savannah police officer who shot and killed the 36-year-old man last year during a traffic stop. Mincey was a passenger in the car and had a gun in his lap. A statement released said the DA’s office determined that body camera footage and other evidence showed that Officer Thomas Love was justified in using force against Maurice Mincey on July 17, 2021.

DA Jones’ office said it wouldn’t be able to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Thomas Love’s actions were “unreasonable and/or unnecessary under the circumstances.”

Mainor questioned the DA’s decision made following the investigative report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, issued last November.

In its original press release, the GBI stated that Mincey got out of the car and pointed a gun at officers. Days later, the GBI amended its statement of what happened, removing mention that Mincey pointed a gun and instead reported that he disregarded commands to put his hands up while getting out of the car and that he had a gun.

Mainor accused the GBI of lying in the first report.

“If the GBI can lie about that, what else can they lie about?” Mainor said.

Mainor says that the video of the incident is “horrendous,” and the Racial Justice Network is requesting the video not be released to the public. 

“He has a baby that still does not know that dada is not coming home,” Mainor said. Mincey’s fiance and small son attended the press conference.

He urged the U.S. Justice Department to do a full investigation of all Savannah police-involved shootings. Savannah Police have struggled with a spike in police shootings of civilians, with four such shootings just this year. There were five total police shootings in 2021, including Mincey’s in July. 

“If they do that then they can free some people, they will know that some people need to go to jail,” Mainor said.