Father criticized deputies for shooting his son, then he got these packages, he said
A father who criticized the Henderson County Sheriff's Office after a deputy was charged with shooting his autistic son has received threatening packages, he said.
Zachary Browning, 45, who lives in Knoxville, said on March 1, a week after his son Matthew Browning, 25, was shot in the arm, he received two packages with free COVID tests. They were addressed to Browning's home, but instead of his name the label said "WHO SHOTYASON."
The tests are easily ordered through the U.S. Postal Service, but Browning said he didn't order them.
"I have taken this as harassment and a threat to me and my family. It's adding insult to injury, and in a very cowardly manner," Browning told the Citizen Times April 15. "The USPS is investigating, and I hope the person(s) who did this are caught and prosecuted."
The post office inspection section was notified by Browning, spokesperson Jessica Adams said April 12. Adams did not respond to Citizen Times messages asking how seriously USPS took the situation, what the next steps were and what kind of punishment could be given if a crime was found.
Asked about the packages, Stephanie Brackett, spokesperson for Sheriff Lowell Griffin, said "we would encourage him to report this to his local law enforcement agency."
Browning said he also contacted the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the office of Andrew Murray, district attorney for Henderson, Transylvania and Polk counties. Murray did not respond to a message from the Citizen Times. SBI spokesperson Anjanette Grube declined to comment "on specific conversations our agents may or may not have had with individuals in the course of ongoing investigations." On Griffin's request, the SBI is serving as the investigating agency for the shooting, a standard practice to avoid a law enforcement agency investigating its own officers.
Joshua Rankin, 24, was off-duty when on the morning of Feb. 23, he used a personal gun to shoot from his third-floor apartment balcony across the parking lot at Matthew Browning, who he thought was breaking into his patrol car. That is according to 911 calls, the sheriff's office from which he has since been fired and Browning's mother, who lives with her son in the same apartment complex as Rankin. Browning was taken to Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville where he was treated for an arm wound and released.
Rankin is facing felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, a charge one expert says is too light. His next appearance in Henderson County District Court is June 25.
That same day Zachary Browning criticized the law enforcement agency, commenting on the sheriff's office Facebook page, that "they were a bunch of clowns," he said.
As of April 15 there were no comments below the post by Griffin except a note that said the sheriff's office had "limited who can comment on this post."
In an April 2 story, the Citizen Times noted that the incident was the fourth in in less than two years involving deputies taking questionable actions. Those included a deputy shooting a dog on its owner's property after a mistaken suspicious vehicle call, a school resource officer tackling and striking an elementary school student after the child failed to remove a hood as instructed, and the beating, stunning and restraining by deputies and Fletcher police of Christopher Hensley who stopped breathing and died shortly thereafter. Murray, the DA, declined to prosecute in the three prior instances.
Browning, who grew up in Henderson County, said he was shocked, not just at what happened to his son, but by all the incidents.
"This threat just shows the lengths someone will go to try and intimidate me for speaking out against the violence brought on by Henderson County law enforcement not just to my disabled son, but to the others who have been victims of excessive force within the last two years. I will continue to advocate for my son and other victims of police brutality," he said.
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: He criticized deputies for his son's shooting, then got these packages
