Matt Agorist | The Free Thought Project
Nashville, TN — Last Friday, Jocques Scott Clemmons, 31, was pulled over for rolling through a stop sign near his home at Cayce Homes public housing development. Less than 1 minute after the stop begins, however, Clemmons would be shot in the back, dying a painful and slow death.
How exactly did a routine traffic stop turn into a police-involved shooting death? Well, if you listen to the Nashville police department’s original story, Clemmons charged at officer Joshua Lippert, causing a physical confrontation, who then had no choice but to shoot him. However, a video from the nearby housing development, released two days after the killing, tells a different story — a story in which Clemmons was shot as he ran away.
When police released the first video, it appeared to back up their claim of a physical confrontation as it was shot from an angle that made it hard to see what actually transpired. The video shows Clemmons run toward Lippert’s unmarked patrol car and then it ends.
However, the newer video showed that Clemmons never got close to Lippert and instead tried to run around him.
As the new video below shows, no struggle happened until Lippert pursued Clemmons and physically grabbed him. However, the entire time it appears that Clemmons is simply trying to get away as he knows that this meeting will likely end with him locked in a cage.
According to police Clemmons had a gun and was reaching toward his waistband. Lippert said he feared for his life and had no other option but to open fire on Clemmons. Police also claim that Clemmons was holding the gun and refused to drop it. However, if you watch the video below, it appears Clemmons was only trying to get away from Lippert. At no time did Clemmons take aim or point anything in Lippert’s direction.
As Clemmons ran from him, Lippert opens fire. Clemmons was struck twice in the lower back and once in his left hip, according to police. He later died in surgery.
“He got out of his car, left the door open, started running, police shot him in the back three times, he fell to the ground, a few police officers went over and looked at him, walked away, and that’s about it,” a witness told WKRN.
Watch the video below: