Winston Smith shooting: BCA unlocks phone, obtains video of shooting
Family members have identified Winston Smith as the man killed by law enforcement at a parking garage in Minneapolis Uptown neighborhood. (Smith Family)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has unlocked a phone that captured video of the law enforcement shooting of Winston Smith Jr. in June 2021.
What we know
The Minnesota BCA learned Smith may have tried to record or live stream a video of his fatal encounter with authorities but was unable to unlock the phone and could not confirm the video existed.
The BCA was able to unlock the phone on Nov. 21, 2024, after using software that tried more than 780,000 password combinations, a press release said. BCA digital evidence examiners retrieved a video from the phone and can now confirm the video captures the shooting incident.
The video has now been sent to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for review. The video has not been made public, but will be added to the existing case file once the review is complete, the BCA said.
What they're saying
"Our accredited digital evidence laboratory uses the most advanced unlocking software available to law enforcement," said Superintendent Drew Evans. "Lawful access to evidence that is thwarted by evolving encryption technology is a constant challenge."
In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says her office is reviewing the new video: "After accessing the video on Winston Smith's phone, the BCA immediately informed our office and provided it to us. It is currently under review. We appreciate the BCA's due diligence and promptness in sharing the video after it was recovered. We will communicate further updates as available."
Dig deeper
In 2021, when the BCA couldn't unlock the phone despite using the best technology available at the time, they provided the case to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. The case was then referred to the Crow Wing County Attorney's Office.
The Crow Wing County Attorney's Office declined charges against the deputies involved in Smith's death, and evidence was returned to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.
The BCA re-obtained the phone from the sheriff's office on Nov. 13, 2023, after learning "another entity may have accessed the phone and found video," the press release says.
The BCA installed unlocking software on the phone, and for the past year the software has tried more than 780,000 password combinations, finally unlocking the phone on Nov. 21, 2024, and retrieving the video.
Previously, the BCA could not confirm the video actually existed because they were locked out of the phone.
Winston Smith's shooting death
A Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy and a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy working as part of a U.S. Marshals Task Force shot and killed Smith, 32, on June 3, 2021, while trying to arrest him on a warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s preliminary investigation found.
As members of the task force were trying to get into Smith's SUV, he drew his handgun and fired at them, authorities said, and two of the members used deadly force in response.
In a letter to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan said the U.S. Marshals Task Force’s use of deadly force was justified in Smith’s death. Ryan was asked to take the case because the task force members included members from counties near the Twin Cities metro, which would have been a conflict of interest for those county attorneys.
Ryan said the task force was "properly exercising its lawful authority to apprehend Winston Smith on the Ramsey County felony warrant." He said the task force was "readily identifiable" when informing Smith that he was under arrest and ordering him to comply with their commands, but Smith failed to comply.
What we don't know
It's unclear how the discovery of the video could impact the case.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.