On Tuesday, a Monroe County district attorney found that the killing of Christian Hall by Pennsylvania State police was justified. Now, the lawyers for Hall’s family are disputing that finding and calling for an investigation by the state.
Attorney Ben Crump, who also represented the family of George Floyd, and police officer-turned-civil rights lawyer Devon Jacob spoke in a press conference on Wednesday to voice concerns about the DA’s report.
Hall called 911 to tell emergency responders that he was suicidal. He was standing on an overpass in Hamilton Township in Monroe County.
Hall was holding a pellet gun at the time he was killed. The DA said the Airsoft gun was a replica of a semi-automatic handgun, and that Hall made no attempt to inform state police that the gun wasn’t real. In the report, the DA alleges that Hall sought suicide by proxy.
The Hall family hoped that the Monroe County DA would turn the case over to the PA state attorney. Gareth Hall, Christian’s father, elaborated:
“You have the DA who works closely with the state troopers out here on a regular basis. How objective is he going to be?” he said.