D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said she welcomed news that federal prosecutors in Philadelphia were being brought in to investigate the fatal shooting of a Trinidad neighborhood man at the hands of U.S. Park Police. “Frankly, what I wanted from the beginning is an independent investigation,” Norton told The Washington Examiner in a phone interview Tuesday, speaking about the death of Trey Joyner in an alley in Northeast. “The history of police brutality [in D.C.] makes it hard for many communities to believe even in independent investigations.” “I’m worried here more about appearances,” Norton added. “And appearances count in matters like this. There is a very long and torrid history [of brutality] that has to be taken into account.” Wednesday marks the year anniversary of Joyner’s death. His family and friends have accused Park Police officers of shooting him in the back as he fled an arrest attempt. Police have said that Joyner was armed and pointed a handgun at police. Officers were patrolling the Trinidad neighborhood last summer as part of a federal task force calling itself Operation Safe Streets. Park Police say they were responding to an emergency call of a man with a gun when they encountered Joyner. Despite the alphabet soup of federal police agencies in the District, Joyner’s killing marked the first time a D.C. resident had ever been killed by a federal police officer, Norton said. The Examiner reported last week that new U.S. Attorney Ron Machen had agreed to farm the Joyner investigation out to prosecutors in Philadelphia. Norton helped Machen obtain the top prosecutor’s job, passing over veteran prosecutor and D.C. native Channing Phillips. An early review by Justice Department civil rights lawyer Roy Austin –a veteran of the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office — cleared Park Police officers of wrongdoing in Joyner’s death, sources have told The Examiner, but the Justice Department says its civil rights investigation is ongoing. Some rank and file officers have complained privately that Norton is egging on an angry neighborhood and in danger of rail-roading the officers. Norton dismissed that complaint. “I believe in a transparent, open investigation. I hope that there would be no presumption that the police weren’t doing their work,” she said. Machen’s spokesman declined comment. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser also declined comment.
