Maricopa County releases video, 911 calls in terrorism case

On-body camera footage from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office shows a sergeant shooting an 18-year-old man twice in Fountain Hills last month as the man walked toward him holding a knife.

Sgt. Brandon Wells shot Ismail Hamed, who prosecutors charged with aggravated assaulted and terrorism, on Jan. 7 outside a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office substation.

The release of the footage and two 911 calls comes as a result of Maricopa County Superior Judge Sally Duncan's order on Tuesday. The Arizona Republic and several other media outlets had sued over the county's effort to seal the documents.

Duncan told a prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which represents the Sheriff's Office, at a court hearing that they must release the records as soon as possible unless he had specific reasons to withhold the videos, 911 calls, police report and a probable-cause statement.

The report and the probable-cause statement had not been released as of Thursday night. 

Police video and 911 calls

According to the Sheriff's Office, Hamed called a 911 operator twice asking to speak to a deputy.

He told one of the operators he had a knife and some rocks.

"My name is Ismail Hamed," the man tells an operator, according to one of the 911 call recordings. "I live in Fountain Hills, and I'm owing my allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I just want a cop to come real quick and I want to deal with them."

The Wells' on-body-camera footage shows him approaching Hamed, who tells Wells he wants to talk about a political issue. When Wells asks for his ID, Hamed throws rocks at Wells, the video shows.

Wells points his gun at Hamed and tells him to back off. Hamed pulls out a knife. Wells repeatedly tells Hamed to drop his knife, as Hamed walks toward the deputy. The deputy threatens to shoot Hamed if he doesn't drop the knife.

"Shoot me," Hamed tells Wells.

Wells fires twice, injuring Hamed.

Terrorism case

According to the indictment, Hamed "intentionally or knowingly did provide advice, assistance, direction or management'' to the terrorist organizations Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. 

But neither the Sheriff's Office, the FBI, who is also part of the investigation, nor the County Attorney's Office have provided any details indicating how Hamed may be connected to a terrorist organization or what plans he had to carry out a terrorist attack.

The FBI has previously said Hamed was born in the U.S.

FBI Special-Agent-In-Charge Michael DeLeon, who was present at Thursday's news conference, didn't answer a question about whether Hamed would face any federal terrorism charges.

Hamed is currently in custody in a Maricopa County jail.

Holding records back

Under Arizona law, the body-cam videos, 911 calls, police report and probable-cause statement are public records. 

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said at a news conference Thursday that his and the prosecutor's office decided it was best that the records not be released immediately to the public. But he didn't say what made this case unique from other criminal cases, or what merited sealing them from the public.

"I think the greater challenge is we have to find that space that there's more consistency relative to when it's appropriate for law-enforcement agencies to release things, ensuring we don't undermine any element of an ongoing investigations or prosecutions," Penzone said.

He added that he wants to err on the side of caution, to avoid tainting a jury pool if the case were to go to trial.

But, according to the state's public records law, these documents and recordings are presumed to be public record unless a law-enforcement agency can specifically say how releasing the records could derail a criminal investigation.

Legal fight

In court records filed in January, the County Attorney's Office argued the material shouldn't be released because they contained information related to a federal investigation.

The Republic, and other local news organizations, including the Associated Press, Channel 12 (KPNX-TV); Channel 5 (KPHO-TV); Channel 3 (KTVK-TV) and Channel 15 (KNXV-TV), asked a judge to have the records released.

Attorney David Bodney, who represented the news outlets, told the judge at a Tuesday court hearing the material is considered public record under the state's public-records law.

"I agree," the judge said.