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As police continue to investigate the shooting death of a black homeless man in Los Angeles, officials say the body camera footage won’t be released just yet, Mashable reports.

Police are hesitant to release the footage until the officer’s intent is fully investigated. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters that the release of the footage could cause a divide between police and pedestrians, something they’re strongly trying to avoid.

Beck said the body camera footage will be “crucial in determining the propriety of the officer’s actions.” Groups such as the ACLU in Los Angeles have asked the LAPD to release the footage, as they feel it will help relieve strife between the police and members of the community, particularly the homeless.

Pedestrian footage of the shooting came to light on Sunday. The victim, identified as Charley Saturmin Robinet, was allegedly resisting arrest when officers shot him five times. Now, new details about Robinet’s identity are coming to light. According to an ABC News report, Robinet was living under the assumed identity of a French national.

French officials claim Robinet had a history of mental illness and served 14 years in jail for robbing a Wells Fargo bank to pay for acting classes. Robinet was residing in America with a stolen French Passport of a French national. But Astrid le Moine, Press Attaché for the Consulate General of France in Los Angeles, said the French consulate later notified police of the usage of the stolen identity. Arnaud Guillois, the press counselor at the French Embassy in Washington, told ABC News that the homeless man killed on Skid Row “is not French.” French officials do not know the man’s nationality at this time, Guillois said.

Robinet was 39-years-old at the time of his death and was known to the people in the homeless community as “Africa.”

SOURCE: MashableABC | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc.

SEE ALSO:

Police: Homeless Man Allegedly Reached For LAPD Cop’s Gun Before Fatal Shooting

UPDATED: LAPD Shoots Homeless Man Dead In Downtown L.A. [VIDEO]

LAPD Refuses To Release Body Camera Footage Of Police Shooting Homeless Man  was originally published on newsone.com