A Michigan sheriff’s office is refusing to release details about shooting an unarmed Black man nine times in the back as he raw away from a questionable traffic stop, including evidence like body and dash camera footage which captured the shooting. But the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office assures the public has nothing to worry about because not only did they investigate themselves and found no wrongdoing, another Michigan sheriff’s office from a nearby county also investigated the shooting and found no wrongdoing. Tony Cox was unarmed and had committed no crime when he was pulled over by Michigan sheriff’s deputies and killed after they claimed to be in fear for their lives after he clasped both hands together and pointed towards them. However, they shot him nine times in the back as he was running away. The family has now filed a lawsuit. (Photos: Facebook and Attorney Joseph B. Sklar) But the family of Tony Cox, the 33-year-old Black man killed, is not buying it. Earlier this month, the victim’s mother, Tammy Cox, filed a wrongful death federal lawsuit against the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, accusing deputies of violating her son’s Fourth and 14th Amendment rights. The lawsuit states that deputies pulled him over because they believed the four-door sedan he was driving had been involved in a “shots fired incident” a week before. But the lawsuit also states there is no public record confirming there ever was a shots fired incident involving a four-door sedan during that time frame, indicating the deputies were possibly lying about the incident in order to racially profile the Black man. The lawsuit was filed by Detroit law firms Perkins Law Group and the Law Offices of Joel B. Sklar, on January 7, listing the eight deputies as “John Does” because their names have yet to be released to the public. The lawsuit states the attorneys representing the Cox family were allowed to briefly watch the body and dash camera videos but were not allowed to maintain possession of the videos.  In fact, the only piece of evidence released by the sheriff’s office is an image from a video frame showing Cox clasping his empty hands together and pointing toward the deputies in a brief moment as he stepped out of his car in an effort to justify the shooting in the eyes of the public. But the lawsuit states the shooting was not justified: Defendant Deputy Sheriffs John Doe #1–8 rapidly emptied their weapons shooting Tony Cox nine times in the back, one of which pierced his aorta and killed him.  While he was lying on the ground, Deputy Sheriff John Doe #6 ordered Tony Cox to “get up” and kicked his lifeless body. None of the Defendant Sheriffs attempted to resuscitate Tony Cox.  No weapon was found on or near Tony Cox because he had none. No evidence of any kind connected Tony Cox to any criminal activity, let alone the purported shooting one week earlier. “How many stories are we going to have to deal with to understand that this is beyond implicit bias, this is just bias,” Todd Perkins, one of the attorneys representing the Cox family, said to CBS News. “This is just a racial undertone that has permeated, I believe, that department for many many decades.” The Shooting An Oakland County sheriff’s deputy pulled Cox over on a residential street at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2023, in the city of Pontiac on the basis that the car matched the description of another car allegedly involved in a shooting a week earlier. Cox was compliant during the traffic stop, handing the deputy his driver license, then placing both hands on top of the steering wheel to keep the deputy from claiming he had a gun and shooting him. The first deputy took his license and called for backup which was when the other seven nameless deputies pulled up to the scene, escalating an otherwise calm traffic stop by surrounding the car and flashing their lights inside to look for drugs or guns, none which were found. Some deputies pulled out their guns and pointed them at Cox while another deputy shattered the sedan’s rear car window with a metal baton – all of them yelling contradicting commands. The lawsuit states that Cox was “terrified by the frenetic, hyped-up, out-of-control Deputy Sheriffs John Doe #1-8 and told Defendant Deputy Sheriff John Doe #1 that be believed the officers were going to kill him.” But the first deputy ignored his pleas for help, allowing the deputies to further escalate the situation. Fearing for his life, Cox maneuvered his car to escape the situation, being careful to avoid hitting any of the deputies or their patrol cars, the claim states. The deputies then jumped in their cars to pursue him, with one deputy performing a Precision Immobilization Technique maneuver, which is when a law enforcement officer strikes the rear quarter panel of a fleeing car with their own patrol car, causing the fleeing car to spin out of control. In a brief moment after stepping out of his car, Cox clasped both hands together and pointed them toward the deputies, prompting one deputy to fire shots at Cox but missing.  Cox then ran away with his right hand holding up his pants and his left hand empty, but the deputies opened fire when he was about 30 to 50 feet away, striking him nine times in the back, including one bullet that pierced his aorta and killed him. One of the deputies than ran up to him and kicked his body, ordering Cox to “get up,” the claim states. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office has not been very transparent with local media about the shooting, sending reporters the following statement: “The incident was investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit (S.I.U.) and the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office. Both entities found that the actions of the Deputy Sheriffs were objectively reasonable under the circumstances.” But history shows we should never take the word of law enforcement when they investigate themselves because they tend to protect each other. “No one from Oakland County has communicated with the family of Tony Cox about the results of any investigation into the fatal shooting, the discipline imposed on Defendant Deputy Sheriffs, if any, and whether the matter was referred to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of criminal charges against any or all of the Defendant Deputy Sheriffs,” the claim states. An autopsy performed by the Oakland County Medical Examiner the following day ruled Cox’s death a homicide after finding nine gunshot wounds on his back. The autopsy also determined Cox had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he was killed. “This 33-year-old Black male, Tony Cox, died of multiple gunshot wounds during an assault,” wrote Deputy Medical Examiner Bernardino B. Pacris in his report. “Based on the circumstances surrounding his death, the results of the postmortem examination and the toxicological analysis, the manner of death is homicide.” Cox’s sister described her brother, who was 6 feet tall and weighed 390 pounds, as a gentle giant. “Tony is a robotics engineer, he graduated out in Michigan,” Tiffany Macon told WDIV-TV in December 2023, shortly after the shooting. “He was also working in his career field. And he also owned his own trucking company.” ‘Get Up!’: Michigan Police Shot Black Man In the Back Nine Times and ‘Kicked His Lifeless’ Body While Yelling Commands In Ill-Fated Traffic Stop. Now Sheriff Won’t Release Video, Lawsuit Claims