Reno public speakers demand bodycam release, alternatives to police after Feb. 3 death
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Summary
Dozens of residents told the Reno City Council that officers shot and killed Michael Johnson Jr. during a Feb. 3 welfare check and urged release of body‑worn camera footage, names of officers involved and a reallocation of funds toward community‑based crisis response teams.
Dozens of public commenters pressed the Reno City Council on Feb. 11 to release body-worn camera footage and the names of officers involved in the Feb. 3 welfare‑check shooting of Michael Johnson Jr., and to invest in community‑based crisis response instead of additional police funding.
Speakers including Elena Delapaz, Bahar Jazani and Kelsey Owens said the incident showed police were poorly equipped for mental‑health crises. Delapaz said the community demands “justice for Michael Johnson Jr.” and asked council to “support evidence‑based solutions such as hiring more community health workers and on‑the‑ground trained intervention teams.” Jazani, a UNR graduate student, called for immediate release of unedited bodycamera footage and the officers’ names, and urged the council to “divest from RPD in the upcoming fiscal year and instead fund research‑backed nonviolent alternatives.”
Several witnesses who said they saw or recorded the incident told the council that Johnson was walking away and that officers fired multiple times. Lucas Janowski said he filmed the encounter and that “Michael Johnson was murdered in the street,” while Jax Hart and others asked the council to consider programs like Baltimore’s and Eugene’s unarmed crisis teams as alternatives to armed response.
Council staff and the mayor’s office did not announce any immediate actions during public comment; speakers urged the council to use its oversight and budgeting powers to push for rapid release of footage and for funding community responses. Several commenters asked the city to follow RPD policy timelines for bodycam disclosure and to provide public updates on investigations. The council received public comment but did not take formal action at the Feb. 11 meeting.
The council’s formal business that followed included presentations and votes on unrelated items; the public comments were recorded in the meeting minutes. The Reno Police Department and any investigative offices were not quoted during the public comment period; the statements above are the speakers’ claims as made at the podium.