After more than a year of attempts, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has successfully unlocked a cell phone containing video footage of the Winston Smith shooting incident, a development that could provide new insight into the controversial June 2021 event in Minneapolis. According to DPS Minnesota, this breakthrough occurred on Nov. 21, when specialized unlocking software deciphered the correct password after trying over 780,000 combinations.
In a prior investigation, the BCA's Force Investigation Unit had been made aware that Smith might have been attempting to record or livestream the incident but couldn't breach the phone's defenses, after which the case went through several hands including the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and subsequently the Crow Wing County Attorney’s Office who then declined to press charges, after the county attorney declined charges and evidence from the case was returned to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, the BCA, tipped off by reports of a third-party accessing the video, got hold of the phone again and set their cracking software to work once more. Upon successful entry, a video capturing the incident was unearthed and has since been handed over to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for review on Nov. 24.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans highlighted the challenges law enforcement faces with advancing encryption technology, stating, "Our accredited digital evidence laboratory uses the most advanced unlocking software available to law enforcement," and adding, "Lawful access to evidence that is thwarted by evolving encryption technology is a constant challenge." Despite the anticipated public interest in the video's contents, the BCA has remained tight-lipped regarding specifics of their investigative techniques, citing legal restrictions.
What may unfold from the video's contents remains the subject of speculation, as the Hennepin County Attorney's Office is currently reviewing the video, which is still not available to the public; though the BCA has committed to releasing the video publicly and including it in the case file upon completion of the review, raising hopes and anxieties alike as to its potential impact on public perception and the judicial process concerning the law enforcement actions during the incident that culminated in Smith's death. The BCA case file already acknowledged the existence of the phone and its probable content without the means to verify it independently until the recently successful unlocking endeavor.
