RALEIGH, N.C. — The family of Tyrone Mason, a 31-year-old man who died in a crash in Raleigh back in October, held a rally in front of the Wake County Courthouse Thursday, loudly proclaiming the failure of Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman to bring charges against troopers in the case as an injustice and demanding the troopers be fired immediately.
Mason’s mother and others gathered before media at the Fayetteville Street justice center in downtown Raleigh on a dreary Thursday morning. High-profile civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers, Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove and others were among the group, who marched to the courthouse with pictures of Mason.
They said they wanted justice after an investigation revealed that two highway patrol state troopers lied about some of the circumstances of the chase and deadly crash. Freeman decided not to charge the two troopers, who remain on administrative leave while an investigation is ongoing, and dropped more than 180 cases involving them. The two remain on administrative leave as an internal investigation by the NCHP is ongoing.
The nationally known attorneys called for the firing of the two troopers. They spoke out strongly against the decision not to charge both, Trooper Garrett Macario and his supervisor Sgt. Matthew Morrison.
Mason died in the single-car wreck about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 7 on Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road in Raleigh. Questions about the circumstances of the crash prompted news outlets and Mason's family to seek release of video footage from responding officers.
Macario called in the crash after he said he drove up on it, but investigators found that Macario initially was not truthful with responding officers. They said Macario had tried to pull Mason over for speeding, but Mason accelerated and fled. Macario initially gave chase but then gave up the pursuit, investigators said.
They said Macario’s supervisor Morrison advised Macario not to tell officers that he had tried to pull Mason over, saying the crash “sounds like Raleigh’s problem.”
Last Friday, some body camera video was released that shows Macario talking to Raleigh police about the crash, and not revealing that he had been chasing Mason for speeding along Capitol Boulevard.
Attorneys said that none of this would have been revealed if Tyrone Mason’s mother had not pushed for more information about what happened the night her son died.
Mason’s mother is vowing to keep fighting for her son.
“His mother didn’t believe them. His mother fought for him. Not you had a hunch for no investigation. And I’m very upset. Miss Freeman, you told me to my face that you was on my side. You told me you was on my side. But no… you’re on the side of the state troopers,” Henrietta Mason said.
Freeman on Wednesday last week said that while she agreed the troopers were dishonest about their response to the crash, that their actions didn’t warrant criminal charges. Mason’s family filed a lawsuit in federal court against Macario, accusing him of covering up his actions in the crash and failing to check on Mason at the scene.
Spectrum News 1 spoke with Freeman following the news conference.
“There’s no question that the way those law enforcement officers acted right after this accident is inexcusable. I’ve called it out time and time again as being wrong. That does not make it criminal. I do believe they should not be in law enforcement,” Freeman said.
Freeman also said she was told by the medical examiner that Mason likely died on impact and didn't survive after the crash. She also said neither trooper signed anything in writing saying they didn't pursue Mason and said that pursuing him was a legal act.
