New video shows Asian American teen had hands up in the air when he was fatally shot by police

SCREEN CAPTURE

Newly released video shows Christian Hall had his hands in the air when he was fatally shot.

Almost a year after he was shot to death by police, friends, family and supporters rallied Saturday for Christian Hall, a Chinese American teenager after a just-released video showed he had his hands in the air before police opened fire.

"Today marks 332 days that I have not seen my son,"  his Filipino American mother, Fe Hall, told the rally. "His death should not be in vain."

Hall was adopted and brought to the U.S. from China by his his parents when he was an infant. 

Christian Hall called 911 claiming that someone on a highway overpass n Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania had a gun and was threatening to commit suicide, according to police records.

Police responded and tried to have Christian Hall, who was experiencing a mental health crises, to put down his gun, which he held pointing up. For 90 minutes, police tried to get Hall to drop his weapon.

FAMILY PHOTO

Christian Hall, center, flanked by his parents.

The new video shows Christian Hall was standing still, with his hands still raised and his gun pointed up when 10 police officers opened Dec. 30 2020, according to a previously unseen video obtained by attorneys representing his family.

The new video, which was first broadcast by NBC and Spotlight PA, contradicts previous statements made by the Monroe County Office of the District Attorney that “Hall advanced towards police pointing his gun at them."

Based on officers' claims, the DA’s office stated in March the use of deadly force was justified. The teenager's weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that resembled a real pistol.

Devon Jacob, an attorney who represents Hall’s family, stated that the unedited video “definitively establishes that both stories are false,” and that “Christian was shot in direct response to an order that ‘If he doesn’t drop it, take him.’”

Hall's family is asking for an independent investigation. He should be here today,” Hall’s aunt Nicole Henriquez told BuzzFeed News on Thursday. “And I just feel there was a complete disregard, because of who he was racially.”

Earlier this month in East Stroudsburg, the same Pennsylvania town where Hall was killed, Daniel Koltun, who is white, fired a pellet gun at officers, who did not shoot back, according to the Pocono Record.

“This case absolutely needs an independent, unbiased investigation run by an agency not directly related to the case,” said state Rep. Maureen Madden in a statement. “Whether that’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro or even the FBI, the people involved deserve facts.”

“The refusal of the Monroe County DA’s office to refer the case, coupled with the release of the video that authorities previously blurred, is troubling and presents a real conflict,” the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus said Friday.

"We're doing this to have those who need to be accountable, be made accountable. So that there will be change," Fe Hall said to ABC News. "That cases like this, where there are killings that involve the police, there has to be an unbiased, independent investigation right away. That law has to be changed."