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HARTFORD - A quick court appearance for former Hartford police officer Joseph Magnano followed a lengthy protest Tuesday as a small group followed Magnano and his supporters to his attorney's office, chanting in support of the shooting victim Steven Jones and against the police.
Magnano, 23, of Newington, faces a manslaughter charge in connection with the Feb. 27 officer-involved shooting death of Jones on Blue Hills Avenue.
Magnano was charged May 18 by state Inspector General Eliot Prescott following a deadly use of force investigation. Tuesday was Magnano's second court appearance. Prescott said discovery is ongoing and scheduled the next hearing for Sept. 17.
Following the hearing, as Magnano exited the courthouse, the handful of protesters gathered outside with a megaphone began following him and his supporters as they walked around the block to his attorney's office on Oak Street.
The protesters chanted Jones' name and "no justice, no peace."
In his investigation, Prescott found Magnano was not justified in shooting Jones and acted recklessly, according to a report.
Magnano was widely criticized for not following the lead of the other officers who, for the most part, kept their guns down and calmly tried to get Jones, who was suffering a mental health crisis, to drop his knife, body-camera videos show.
When Magnano got to the scene five minutes after the first officer's arrival, he yelled for Jones to drop the knife while walking toward Jones, with his gun pointed at the man, who appeared to say nothing the entire time, according to a preliminary report by the inspector general and body-camera video.
Jones then turned and took about 24 steps toward Magnano, who walked backward to put space between them before firing nine times, the video showed.
Following the shooting, Magnano was fired by Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam "on the grounds of his performance" in the Feb. 27 shooting.
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