This screenshot from a body camera video was attached to criminal charging documents published Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, by the Alaska Department of Law. It shows an Alaska State trooper kicking a man in May 2024. The trooper and one other have been charged with misdemeanor assault. (Screenshot)
A civil rights attorney is suing the Alaska Department of Public Safety for access to body camera footage related to an alleged assault by two Alaska state troopers against a Kenai Peninsula man .
This month, DPS Commissioner James Cockrell told reporters that he was “totally sickened” by what he saw in the footage, which inspired an investigation that led prosecutors to charge the two troopers with assault.
John Skidmore, director of the Department of Law’s criminal division, said the body camera footage will be released for public review “only after the conclusion of (the) criminal case” or during the course of a trial.
Attorney Nick Feronti says that’s unacceptable.
“I think that the public (and, frankly, the media) deserve more transparency,” he said by email. “And I know I am not alone. So, I filed a lawsuit about this under the Alaska Public Records Act.”