FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy accused of shooting a man who was holding an unloaded air rifle in 2013 received a standing applause from law enforcement officers at a hearing last month and again Wednesday.
Dozens of BSO deputies, many wearing custom T-shirts, showed up to court Wednesday to show support for Peter Peraza as he left the courtroom with his attorney after entering a not guilty plea.
Peraza is charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Jermaine McBean.
The 33-year-old was shot in July 2013 while walking home with an unloaded air rifle that he had purchased from a pawn shop on the same day of his death.
The defense argues that McBean ignored the deputy's commands to drop the weapon. In fact, Peraza claims that McBean pointed the gun at him and two other deputies, leaving him no choice but to fire.
But the attorney who filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the McBean family told Local 10 News that a witness claimed that McBean did not take the gun off his shoulder.
There's also a photograph that shows McBean was wearing earbuds during the time of the shooting, evidence that some claim proves that McBean didn't hear the deputy’s commands.
"That man didn't come forward and ask for the limelight. We found him and he followed Mr. McBean from start to finish. He saw everything that happened," attorney David Schoen said. "And what he said unequivocally on the scene and since that day under oath is that the air gun never moved from behind Mr. McBean's head."
The Black Lives Matter alliance was also at the courthouse Wednesday showing support for the McBean family.
"Deputy Peraza was doing nothing more than doing his job and supporting and protecting himself (and) members of the community," Peraza's attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said. "This isn't a racial issue and it shouldn't be."
Peraza has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.