By: Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and his legal team held a press conference at the Archdale Building on Friday morning in Raleigh, calling for the release of dash and body camera footage related to the death of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason.
Mason’s tragic death has raised significant questions following revelations that nearly 200 cases involving the state trooper who responded to the accident were dismissed by the Wake County district attorney’s office in January.
Crump, who represents Mason’s mother, Henrietta, demanded transparency from local authorities, emphasizing that the truth behind Mason’s death lies within the dash and body camera footage from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
“We know something happened here that is more than they are telling us,” Crump said. “They would not have dismissed those cases if there were not something that on that video, from the dash cam and from the body cam that was just god-awful. They don’t just drop cases like that.”
The incident surrounding Mason’s death has been complicated by the discovery that members of the North Carolina Highway Patrol initially claimed Mason had died in an accident with no police pursuit involved. This led to the suspension of Trooper Garrett Macario and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison, after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) requested further inquiry into the circumstances of the fatal crash.
In the aftermath, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman dismissed over 180 cases that had relied on the credibility of Macario and Morrison’s testimony.
Henrietta Mason, visibly emotional, also spoke out about her son’s death, questioning the initial narrative provided by police.
“From Day 1, when they came to me and told me my son died in a single-car accident with no witnesses, I told them that is not true, someone had to be chasing my son.”
Henrietta Mason has claimed to have sent hundreds of emails to government agencies and attorneys, eventually prompting an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation. She also made contact with Raleigh attorney Sean Cecil, who pressed her case.
Mason’s legal team, including prominent civil rights lawyer Bakari Sellers, has drawn attention to the broader implications of the case. Sellers believes the incident is part of a larger pattern of misconduct within the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
“As we’re digging, we’re understanding that it’s not just about Tyrone Mason, that this actually is a culture,” Sellers said. “The question has to be asked from the top to the bottom about what their policies and procedures are about chases, and what they’re supposed to do on the scenes.”
Sellers also issued a direct call to North Carolina officials, including Governor Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson, to take immediate action.
“I want my good friend, Jeff Jackson, I want my good friend Governor Stein to actually open their eyes and pay attention to what’s going on with their state highway patrol,” Sellers said. “They can make sure that these officers are arrested. They can make sure that these officers are fired.”
As the investigation continues, there is still no public release of the dash and body camera footage, which has yet to be made available to the public. Law enforcement camera footage can only be released by a court after a petition is filed with a judge, according to state law.
Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for Jackson, said the attorney general’s office is not currently involved in Mason’s case, nor does it have the authority to release the footage.
“Under North Carolina law, the law enforcement agency that is the custodian of those records must petition the court for its release,” Ahmed wrote in an email to NC Newsline. “Additionally, the attorney general’s office does not have oversight of law enforcement agencies and district attorney’s offices.”
While Crump and Sellers continue to push for transparency, the State Bureau of Investigation has completed its inquiry and plans to hand over its findings to the Wake County District Attorney’s office. The district attorney will then decide whether any criminal charges should be brought against the officers involved.
While legal proceedings are still ongoing, Crump and Sellers have indicated their intent to file a lawsuit related to Mason’s death in the near future. As of now, no formal comments have been made by representatives for Governor Stein or the State Highway Patrol regarding the release of the footage or the ongoing investigation.
