A federal judge released courtroom video on Monday of the fatal shooting of a Tongan defendant who attacked a witness with a pen during a 2014 racketeering trial in the United States.
Siale Maveni Angilau, aka “C-Down,” was shot four times in the chest after lunging at a person on the witness stand by a U.S. marshal at Salt Lake City Federal Courthouse.
The 24-second footage was released after a media coalition including The Associated Press argued it was a public record in an important police use-of-force case.
The video shows defendant Siale Angilau, a 25-year-old member of the Tongan Crip gang, calmly rising from his seat beside his attorney during the witness’s testimony. He grabs his lawyer’s pen.
As someone yelled, “whoa, whoa, whoa” but before any officers could react, Angilau sprinted toward the witness and leapt onto the stand, wielding the pen with his right arm cocked.
The witness jumped back as Angilau fell feet-first over the front of the witness stand. That’s when the unidentified U.S. marshal shot him.
A woman cried out in horror while other law enforcement officers in suits ran toward the witness stand. Angilau’s defense attorney jumped under a desk; prosecutors stood in shock.
“Drop the pen. Drop the pen out of your hand,” yells an officer standing over Angilau
As we reported at the time, Angilau was still breathing when he was taken away in an ambulance to a local hospital. No one else in the courtroom was injured, including the witness who was on the stand.
Angilau was the last of more than a dozen alleged TCG members to stand trial in the ongoing case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Charges include rackeetering, robbery, carjacking, assault on a federal officer and weapons violations.
