Graphic Video of O.J. French shooting by a Bay Minette police officer is released to internet

March 9, 2025 – Body camera video of the last minutes of Otis French Jr. by Bay Minette police officer was released to Twitter.

On August 22, 2023 – French, a 32-year-old Black man, was killed after the White Bay Minette police officer, Brandon Thompson, pulled him over near his home because a blinker light was out on his vehicle. Officer Thompson was giving French a warning ticket for the mechanical violation; when he asked French to get out of the car.

Then things just went completely out of control.

Officer Thompson said “My safety is paramount” when telling French he was going to pat him down to search for weapons. Thompson then attempts to handcuff French – who was then not even a suspect in any actual crime. French resists being handcuffed and the officer tells French “I am going to tase you” in what was a failed attempt to force French to comply with the handcuffing and the pat down.

French, who has a history of bipolar disorder, then attempts to flee the scene of the encounter on foot leaving his vehicle and the lone police officer at the scene. Thompson pursued and deftly cut him off from escape. The running French then charges the police officer. The two go to the ground. The officer than shoots French with his taser. French who has been tased wrests the taser from the officer and is shot four times in the chest by the police officer.

The camera footage shows the officer’s handling of the scene afterwards and the beginning of the questioning from his fellow Bay Minette officers of what happened at the scene, including his phone call to his wife.

French’s death was investigated by the Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit. The MCU is a joint unit involving most of the Baldwin County police departments and led by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department. The Major Crimes Unit cleared Officer Brandon Thompson of any criminal wrongdoing and according to last reports we were able to obtain he is still on duty patrolling the streets in Bay Minette.

Otis French’s family has filed a lawsuit against Bay Minette and Thompson in federal court. In the lawsuit, the family argues that Officer Thompson used excessive force, the attempted pat down was without cause, and that Thompson had no cause to taze French, much less shoot him dead.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:81a688b4-d40a-4569-bc84-21a769b78c4f

WARNING - The four-minute video is very graphic and very disturbing.

On Thursday the Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill, HB202, that would strengthen police officers’ criminal and civil immunity in incidents such as the French slaying.

The legislation is part of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey’s (R) “back the Blue” package of bills to fight crime and support the state’s law enforcement officers.

As Gov. Ivey explained in her state of the state address, “To back the blue, we will provide law enforcement with enhanced legal protections that allow them to carry out their duties courageously and effectively – without fear of Monday morning quarterbacking in the courts.”

HB202 would not apply to the Otis French case as it is not retroactive. HB202 is sponsored by State Representative Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville). That legislation is now in the Alabama Senate.

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