“We started Thursday afternoon with a witness who lied, a witness who said Gasser got out of his vehicle and fired caps into the windshield of McKnight’s auto, then yanked him out of the vehicle popped him again while he was on the ground saying, ‘I voted for Donald Trump, ‘” Normand said.
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McKnight “might have cut Mr. Gasser off, and Mr. Gasser was irritated and went after Mr. McKnight”, Normand said.
“It’s not fair to be called, ‘You punk ass Uncle Tom coon, we saw you sell out to them, you rat ass f*ggot punk, ‘” Normand said. He went on to lambaste those who blasted his office and other officials for not handling the case the way they would have liked. “You can be outraged but you can do it within yourself”, Johanna McKnight said. Gasser’s bond was set at $500,000, according to jail records.
Mr McKnight left his vehicle to continue the argument when Gasser, who was still sitting in his auto, pulled out a pistol and shot the former National Football League player three times, said the sheriff.
He also attempted to dispel the notion that McKnight’s death with racially motivated (Gasser is white).
Gasser remained at the scene of the shooting and handed over a semi-automatic handgun to the officers who responded to the shooting, the sheriff’s department said.
In his address, which MSNBC aired live, Normand explained the process involved in the initial release and subsequent arrest Gasser.
He noted that on Thursday, Gasser gave authorities a statement that included him being fearful and defending himself, saying that McKnight had made threatening comments. [.] When they stopped at the intersection where McKnight died, they continued to scream at each other through their windows, and then McKnight got out of his vehicle, the sheriff said. Normand also suggested that having Gasser free was a benefit: “Mr. Gasser never asked for a lawyer”, and police were able to conduct 10 hours of “non-custodial interview” plus got consent to search his home.
“Shame on these folks”, Normand said. Some parts of Gasser’s statements could have been self-serving, he added.
“Some people wanted that story to be true”, Normand said. “In fact it is not uncommon, and there is nothing that we have done in this case out of the ordinary or is that unusual”.
The department previously cited the increasingly controversial Stand Your Ground law as reasoning for initially releasing Gasser.
After McKnight was shot, Gasser did what was known in law enforcement circles as a “police-sweeping position”, because McKnight fell between the two cars and Gasser could not see him, Normand said. “The victim observed a phone number on the truck to call if the vehicle was being operated unsafely”.
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At some point during the verbal exchange, the Louisiana man pulled out his weapon and fired at McKnight three times, killing him.
