MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Alvin Motley Jr.'s family is demanding the security footage of his shooting death by a white security guard be released to the public. Motley was shot on August 7 by security guard Gregory Livingston for allegedly "playing his music too loud." The shooting happened at the Kroger gas station in east Memphis near Poplar and Kirby.
Thursday, Motley's family and supporters blocked gas pumps at the gas station and blasted music in his honor. Carl Adams said justice needs be served for his cousin.
"It was important for Mr. Gregory Livingston to shoot my cousin in cold blood right here in Memphis right here at Kroger," Adams said. "So, we felt it’s important to be here right here in Memphis right here at Kroger to let them know that these injustices will no longer be accepted."
That same day, Motley's family was able to view the gas station's security footage from the night he was killed. Adams said he was unarmed when he was shot.
"He probably got 10 to 15 feet away when he got shot in cold blood with a beer in his left hand and raising a cigarette to his right hand where he was then shot in his wrist, the bullet went through his wrist and into his chest and he dropped and died on the scene," Adams said.
Now they want everyone to see that video, so it can shed light on the violence Black people face far too often.
"America needs to view it because it was an injustice not done just to my family," Adams said. "There are injustices going on all across America."
Livingston, a former Olive Branch police officer, was not licensed in Tennessee to be an armed security guard. He had completed his 16 hours of state-required training and submitted his application just five days before the shooting. It was ultimately denied days later. The protest's organizer, LJ Abraham, said Kroger and Allied Universal Security, who let Livingston work unlicensed, need to be held accountable.
"They did hire the security company," Abraham said. "It was also their responsibility to figure out whether the background checks that had been performed were accurate and if he was licensed to do the job that he was set out to do on the night he murdered Mr. Motley."
Motley's family is demanding the security footage be released immediately. A timeline of when it could be released is up to the judge overseeing this case. Livingston is in jail on a $1.8 million bond.