Andre Wharton says the shooting of Neal was "unjustified in our opinion"
Andre WhartonAttorney for the family of Jonah Neal, in an interview with NPR
Family attorney Andre Wharton said body camera footage shown to the family casts doubt that Neal posed an imminent threat, and told NPR the shooting was "unjustified in our opinion" and the response "totally inconsistent with good law enforcement".
Responding to
Family attorney Andre Wharton said body camera footage shown to the family by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office shows that Jonah Neal did not pose a threat that warranted deadly force when the HSI agent shot him.
“It was unjustified in our opinion … The response that we were able to observe was just totally inconsistent with good law enforcement”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Was the HSI agent justified in fatally shooting Jonah Neal during a Memphis mental-health call?
On May 20, 2026, members of the Memphis Safe Task Force responded to a report of a man armed with a gun and threatening to harm himself at a home in the 2100 block of Westchester Drive in Memphis. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said preliminary information indicated the responders encountered Jonah Neal, 25, with multiple weapons inside the residence and that a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent fired a weapon for reasons still under investigation. An autopsy report released on September 4 lists the cause of death as a gunshot wound of the neck and the manner of death as homicide. Family attorney Andre Wharton said body camera footage shown to the family by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office casts doubt that Neal posed an imminent threat, and told NPR that "It was unjustified in our opinion". TBI said it does not determine whether an officer's actions were justified. As of September 25, 2026, we could not locate a public TBI finding, a public release of the footage, or a public statement from the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, HSI or the U.S. Marshals Service explaining why the agent fired. The dispute is whether Neal posed an imminent threat when the agent fired.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
NPR report published August 23, 2026, on family attorney Andre Wharton's description of body camera footage shown to the family by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. It includes statements from Neal's mother and grandmother at a press conference and responses from TBI, the district attorney's office and the White House.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Wharton told NPR that he and Neal's mother were recently shown body camera footage by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office.
After the quotation
NPR reported that the district attorney's office did not respond to its request to review the footage and that TBI declined to comment on it because the investigation was ongoing.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the agent's use of deadly force against Neal, Wharton says the shooting was "unjustified in our opinion" and the response "totally inconsistent with good law enforcement". He rejects the use of force directly, so the label is condemns rather than a challenge to a description.
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- People and groups discussed
- Homeland Security Investigations
More from this case
Read the full caseU.S. Marshals Service declines to comment on the Jonah Neal shooting
United States Marshals Service
“Per our policy, we do no make comments on cases that are still under investigation.”Read statement
ACLU of Tennessee cites the Neal shooting as task force agents "opening fire on a young man seeking help"
ACLU of Tennessee
“The recklessness extends beyond mass detention to fatal force. … In another news story that broke in August, the family of Jonah Neal stated that body camera footage shows that HSI’s shooting of Neal was unjustified. Neal was shot on May 20 after his mother called 911 seeking help for his mental health crisis. Imagine the heartbreak of calling the police to help a loved one facing a breakdown and being left to plan a funeral instead. That pain is the Neal family’s reality. … Whether the Task Force is detaining hundreds of people at a nightclub, harassing Memphians with meritless traffic tickets, or opening fire on a young man seeking help, the pattern holds that legal protections for Memphians come last, if they come at all.”Read statement
Jessica Neal says her son did not hurt anybody and the agent decided his life was not worth it
“My son did not hurt anybody. And, within 30 seconds, she decided his life was not worth it”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Andre Wharton says the shooting of Neal was "unjustified in our opinion"". First published: 2026-09-25. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/2566-family-attorney-andre-wharton-said-body-camera-footage