Public records lawsuit seeks video of alleged assault by Alaska state troopers

This screenshot from a body camera video was attached to criminal charging documents published Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, by the Alaska Department of Law. It shows an Alaska State trooper kicking a man in May 2024. The trooper and one other have been charged with misdemeanor assault. (Screenshot)

A civil rights attorney is suing the Alaska Department of Public Safety for access to body camera footage related to an alleged assault by two Alaska state troopers against a Kenai Peninsula man .

This month, DPS Commissioner James Cockrell told reporters that he was “totally sickened” by what he saw in the footage, which inspired an investigation that led prosecutors to charge the two troopers with assault.

John Skidmore, director of the Department of Law’s criminal division, said the body camera footage will be released for public review “only after the conclusion of (the) criminal case” or during the course of a trial.

Attorney Nick Feronti says that’s unacceptable.

“I think that the public (and, frankly, the media) deserve more transparency,” he said by email. “And I know I am not alone. So, I filed a lawsuit about this under the Alaska Public Records Act.”

Feronti is an attorney with the Northern Justice Project, a civil rights firm, but is acting separate from that work, he said.

“I want to be clear that I genuinely respect the men and women who step up to serve in law enforcement and to keep our communities safe. They deserve our great thanks. And they have my great thanks. However, the public also deserves transparency when select officers betray the public trust,” Feronti said.

Feronti’s suit, which names the Department of Public Safety as a defendant, was filed in Anchorage Superior Court last week and referred to Judge Thomas Matthews. No further proceedings have been scheduled.

The two troopers are scheduled to be arraigned in court on Sept. 10.

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