Officer Who Shot Bennie Branch Will Not Face Charges: Prosecutors

TACOMA, WA — A Tacoma police officer's fatal shooting of Bennie Branch in September 2019 was legally justified, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney said. The officer will not be facing charges as a result of the determination the prosecutor presented in an 11-page review delivered to city officials.

Branch, 24, was shot and killed on September 8, 2019. According to the resulting investigation by the office of the prosecuting attorney, the timeline of events leading to Branch's death went something like this:

Just after 2:30 a.m. an officer approached two people inside a parked car near East 35th and East R streets. While the officer spoke with the female driver of the car, the passenger, later identified as Branch, left the car. The officer ordered him to stay but he told the officer he was going to his own car, according to the prosecutor's account. That officer reported that Branch appeared to be concealing something tucked into his waistband. The officer then frisked the remaining woman, found she was carrying a gun and arrested her, according to the account.

Branch was seen entering a red Subaru, which officers put out an alert for. He was found shortly afterwards by two officers who pulled him over in their patrol vehicle and a third officer got to the scene afterwards. According to the prosecutor's account, all three officers report that Branch was inside the car fighting with a woman in the driver's seat, later identified as Branch's mother, Brenda Branch.

Officers say at that time they thought Branch was trying to steal the car, so they approached and attempted to arrest Branch. Branch refused to leave the car so officers tried to physically pull him from the car, the account says. During the resulting struggle, one officer tased Branch, which was effective for a moment, but Branch eventually recovered his footing, the account states.

At this point, the three officers and Ms. Branch all told slightly different stories of what happened next, but the Pierce County prosecutor's investigation found they all agreed on this basic outline:

• The officers attempted to handcuff Branch but failed as he recovered from the taser.
• During that struggle, the officers saw what appeared to be a handgun in Branch's possession. It was later determined to be a CO2 pistol, though the prosecutor notes that it closely resembled a semiautomatic handgun.
• Branch broke free and began to run, officers say at this point it appeared he reached for the handgun.
• One of the three officers, Ryan Bradley opened fire, shooting Branch 11 times, according to the prosecutor. Branch was hit by seven of those shots, and died from his wounds.

After interviewing all officers and Branch, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett says that all available evidence indicates that the officers had the legal right to open fire.

"He was by all appearances an armed carjacker attempting to evade capture who posed an immediate and grave danger to the officers, to Ms. Branch, and anyone nearby," writes Robnett. "Under these circumstances, there was no reasonably effective alternative to using deadly force to effectuate the lawful detention of Mr. Branch."

Since Branch's death, his case has become a high-profile one for the region. His death was the first deadly police shooting in Tacoma to be investigated by an outside agency, as required under the recently passed Initiative 940, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. As the Tribune also notes, a petition asking that officer Bradley be charged for Branch's death has received over 6,700 signatures online, and many community members say his death is another example of police using excessive force against Black men. Branch's mother has also filed an excessive force claim against the Tacoma Police Department.

On Tuesday, the Pierce County Prosecutor announced that officers would not be charged Branch's death, or for the death of Willem van Spronsen, who was killed by police after he charged ICE's Northwest Detention Center. Shortly afterwards, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards issued a statement on those decisions.

"The news that no charges are being brought against the involved officers will no doubt be received with much emotion by the family and friends of Bennie Branch and Willem van Spronsen, as well as people all across our community," Woodards wrote. "For many, this news will be deeply troubling and difficult to bear. At the same time, for others, this news will be welcomed. No matter where you might stand, the fact remains that every loss of life is tragic and cause for grief."