In the two years since her brother was killed by a 海角换妻 state trooper, Mariyann Soulemane says she almost lost hope that the officer would be held accountable.
鈥淭he path has shown its course and why patience was essential,鈥� Soulemane said.
She and other family members of Mubarak Soulemane gathered Thursday to mark the arrest of Brian North, who shot and killed the 19-year-old in 2020. North was arrested after turning himself in earlier this week and has been charged with manslaughter. He was released after posting $50,000 bail, and his police powers have been suspended.
As the Soulemane family waited for an arrest, there was a global movement for Black lives in response to the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 海角换妻 then passed the Police Accountability Law, which created an independent office of the inspector general to review deaths like Mubarak鈥檚.
鈥淲e thank God for George Floyd鈥檚 legacy and hope that this is not just for my brother, this is for all of us: Every family that was wronged in the state of 海角换妻, everybody that was murdered by [a] police officer and got off scot-free, this is for them,鈥� Mariyann Soulemane said.
The family got the news of North鈥檚 manslaughter charge directly from state Inspector General Robert Devlin, according to Mark Arons, a family lawyer. Family members were 鈥渏oyous and elated鈥� after waiting for more than two years, he said.
Mubarak鈥檚 mother, Omo Klusum Mohammed, expressed gratitude Thursday for Devlin鈥檚 efforts.
鈥淚 want to thank the inspector general for taking his time to investigate this case,鈥� Mohammed said.
North fatally shot Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 after a high-speed chase. Soulemane sat in the driver鈥檚 seat of a stolen car in West Haven, where the chase ended and police boxed in the car. After a failed attempt to use a taser on Soulemane, police said they saw him reaching for a knife. That鈥檚 when North fired his gun multiple times. He said he feared Soulemane was going to attack his fellow officers.
But the report from the inspector general鈥檚 office states that neither North nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack. The report found that North was not justified in using deadly force 鈥� and the investigation questioned the necessity of the high-speed chase.
Soulemane had reportedly been treated for schizophrenia in the past, and the report says he was acting erratically on the day of his death.
North is scheduled to be arraigned May 3. North鈥檚 attorney didn鈥檛 issue a comment on Thursday. The state police union said it was disappointed that the inspector general鈥檚 office decided to prosecute North and that it will vigorously defend the trooper.
海角换妻鈥檚 Jeff Cohen and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
