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Recordings Released In Shooting That Inspired Protests

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Authorities have released a 911 call and a police radio recording from an encounter along a Phoenix freeway in which an Arizona trooper fatally shot a Black man.

The May 25 fatal shooting of Dion Johnson by Trooper George Cervantes inspired protesters to demonstrate police violence in Phoenix during June. A woman who was driving by the encounter asked a 911 dispatcher whether the officer had backup on the way, because he was having difficulty restraining Johnson. In the radio recording, an officer says he found a driver passed out behind the wheel while partially blocking a freeway on-ramp.

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