[B]URLINGTON — Officer Cory Campbell’s body camera footage from his altercation with Douglas Kilburn at the University of Vermont Medical Center shows Kilburn punching Campbell before Campbell punches him back, leaving Kilburn bleeding heavily from his face.
But the video also shows Kilburn getting increasingly agitated when Campbell yells at him to “Shut the fuck up and leave” moments after Kilburn says he is leaving and starts to drive away before slowing down.
Kilburn, 54, died days after the March 11 encounter with Campbell at the University of Vermont Medical Center. His manner of death was ruled a homicide by chief medical examiner Steven Shaprio, meaning Shaprio found that Kilburn would not have died without the blunt force trauma caused by Campbell.
The footage was revealed at a press conference held Wednesday by the police union, the Burlington Police Officers’ Association, after the union obtained the footage after winning a public records lawsuit against the city.
The Vermont State Police investigated the incident and referred their findings to Attorney General T.J. Donovan, who is currently reviewing the case to determine whether there will be any criminal charges against the police officer.
Richard Cassidy, Campbell’s lawyer, said that Campbell was now willing to speak with state police investigators if they are still interested in interviewing him.
“Officer Campbell asks quickly and solely to defend himself after he’s been struck,” Cassidy said. “This is a simple case of self-defense. It’s obvious that Campbell should not be charged with any crimes.”
The 35-minute video footage shows two seperate interactions between Campbell and Kilburn.
During the first interaction, Campbell responds to a call from the hospital that Kilburn was acting irate as he was at the hospital to visit his wife. Campbell helps Kilburn through the hospital, and the interaction ends with Kilburn shaking Campbell’s hand and thanking him for his help.
But after taking another call at the hospital, Campbell re-engages with Kilburn, who is then in his car in the ambulance bay arguing with hospital staff.
Kilburn says he is leaving and his car starts to pull away from the scene. He then slows down and points at another hospital employee outside of the frame and says “I know that guy.”
That’s when Campbell yells “Shut the fuck up and leave,” to which Kilburn responds, “did you just swear at me?”
Campbell says “yes I did,” to which Kilburn replies, “you’re a fucking punk.”
Kilburn yells “get the fuck out before I come over” as Campbell walks away. Kilburn continues to argue with a hospital employee before Campbell turns around and approaches the car.
Kilburn then starts to open the door and Campbell puts his hand on the door. Kilburn emerges from the car telling Campbell that he doesn’t have a right to swear at him.
Campbell puts his hands on Kilburn’s wrist and chest as he gets out of his car. Kilburn then throws at least two punches at Campbell.
It’s unclear how many times Campbell punches Kilburn before Kilburn ends up on the ground seconds later. Kilburn is bleeding heavily from his face as Campbell handcuffs him.
Police chief Brandon del Pozo declined to comment on the footage, citing the ongoing investigation.
David Clements, a Burlington officer and use of force Instructor, said that while the swearing in the video is “not something we teach,” Campbell’s physical response to Kilburn was “absolutely” in line with department policy.
“When we get stuck in the face, we’re absolutely trained to strike back,” Clements said. “The striking is consistent with his training.”
Clements said that it was “crystal clear” that Campbell’s actions were self defense, “minus the language part of it.”
“Although the language looks kind of bad on video, it’s more of a direct language approach,” he said. “It’s an escalation of a verbal command before it turned physical, which obviously he did not control.”
Jay Diaz, a staff attorney for the Vermont ACLU, said that it was “really difficult to tell” from the footage if Campbell was acting in self-defense.
“What’s clear from the video is that officers in Burlington still need serious training on de-escalation and how to respond more appropriately to people with disabilities,” Diaz said.
Wayne Brunette, a mentally-ill Burlington man, was shot and killed by an officer in the New North End after advancing toward an officer while wielding a shovel.
The city recently paid $270,000 to settle with his family after a judge allowed their complaint that the city had not reasonably accommodated Brunette’s mental disability to move forward.
Diaz said there have been a number of situations in recent months that have come to light where Burlington police officers have escalated situations instead of de-escalating them.
“If that’s what de-escalation looks like, there’s good reason to be concerned.”
In May, four African-American men filed federal lawsuits against the police department for excessive use of force, and body camera footage from those incidents showed officers tackling and forcibly pushing the men.
Diaz said he hoped to see the department institute de-escalation training and hold officers accountable when they violate that training.
“It seems that the lessons of the past are not being learned and these incidents are repeating themselves,” Diaz said.
Cheryl Kilburn, Kilburn’s widow, did not respond to a call requesting comment.
Dan Gilligan, the president of the police union, said that using “strong language” does work as a strategy to de-escalate situations.
“Commands like that definitely get people’s attention when nothing else has worked,” Gilligan said.
Del Pozo said at a May 3 press conference that the department strives for courtesy and professionalism, which means less swearing from officers.
“I do want to have police officers swear as infrequently as possible,” del Pozo said. “I recognize that when human beings are in street fights or intense situations they may swear, but I don’t want that to be something that escalates things, and we have to contend with that.”
Mayor Miro Weinberger declined to comment on the content of the body camera footage due to the ongoing investigation.
State’s Attorney Sarah George’s office is also reviewing the case as Donovan reviews it as well. Del Pozo said in April that the department would conduct an internal review of Campbell’s actions after Donovan’s review was complete.
Diaz said that it was for a court to decide whether or not Campbell’s actions were criminal. But he said the ACLU believes that it is far too difficult for officers to be held responsible in use of force incidents against civilians.
Gilligan said that the union would fight disciplinary action from the department and that there was “nothing wrong” with what Campbell did.
“We assume this is about as clear-cut appropriate conduct as there is in use of force situation,” Gilligan said.
Campbell has been on restricted duty since shortly after the incident.
“That’s really frustrating to him, he’s eager to get back to work,” Cassidy said. “We hope the attorney general will act promptly and decline prosecution in this case.”
