The National Police Association asked the Department of Justice to open a federal civil rights investigation into New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez after he prosecuted a police officer for fatally shooting a suspect who grabbed his partner’s stun gun.
Las Cruces Police Officer Brad Lunsford was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after he shot and killed Presley Eze after the suspect allegedly placed his hand on another police officer’s stun gun. Lunsford was responding to a gas station after an attendant called 911 to report that Eze allegedly stole beer in August 2022.
Torrez, a Democrat, thought the shooting by Lunsford wasn’t justified and decided to prosecute Lunsford for voluntary manslaughter. Lunsford was convicted by a jury in February.
“Today’s verdict reaffirms a fundamental principle: No one is above the law, not even those sworn to uphold it. Officer Lunsford’s actions were not just a tragic lapse in judgment; they were an egregious abuse of power that cost Presley Eze his life,” Torrez said after the verdict was announced.
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Torrez also said that Lunsford’s action was “yet another example of poor police tactics resulting in an unjustifiable use of force to subdue an individual resisting arrest for the commission of a minor crime.”
Body camera video shows Lunsford engaging Eze in a conversation, but the suspect avoids giving his identity. Lunsford asks Eze several times to step out of the vehicle but is never given an answer, according to KFOX14, which is when Lunsford’s partner, officer Keegan Arbogast, steps in.
Arbogast asks Eze, “Are you going to cooperate or what?” to which Eze responds, “Yes, I’m going to cooperate.”
Cellphone video from the incident, according to the report, shows Eze disarming Arbogast by grabbing his taser. That’s when Lunsford shoots Eze.
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After the guilty verdict, Lunsford’s attorney, Matt Chandler, argued that the right to a fair trial was violated when two jurors were improperly removed and replaced with alternates.
“Every citizen is entitled to a fair and impartial jury,” Chandler said. “In this case, we believe there was a direct violation of that right. Two jurors, who had been vetted and selected by the defense, were suddenly removed and replaced by alternate jurors. That alone is enough to call this verdict into question and demand a new trial.”
The judge who presided over Lunsford’s case admitted to errors during a March hearing and allowed the police officer to be released under certain conditions. Lunsford has not been sentenced as Chandler argues that a new trial is needed.
On Thursday, the National Police Association requested that the Department of Justice open a civil rights investigation into Torrez’s prosecution of Lunsford, which the organization argued was “politically charged.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (ret.) said Lunsford’s constitutional rights have been “trampled upon.”
“It’s just extraordinary that a police officer would be charged with a felony for simply doing his job. But that’s exactly what Attorney General Torrez has done in this case,” Smith said.
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Smith argued that Torrez used this case to benefit his political career.
“We absolutely believe that Attorney General Torrez is using the Lunsford case for his own political activism and for his gain as an elected official. And what is not being considered is Officer Lunsford’s record and the fact that he absolutely followed departmental policy, and he followed his training in this case,” Smith said.
Smith said the National Police Association is taking action against Torrez not only because of what’s happening to Lunsford, but also for the potential effect it could have on police officers across the country.
“This case will absolutely have a national impact, especially for police officers who have these far-left attorneys general and far-left state prosecutors who are more interested in putting police officers in prison than they are arresting and convicting actual criminals,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Torrez’ office, the New Mexico Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.
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