NBC Dateline anchor Lester Holt will host What Happened to Anton Black?, a report on Anton Black—a 19-year-old Black man who died in 2018 after being taken into police custody in Maryland.
According to the press release “the one-hour special, entitled What Happened to Anton Black?, investigates the warning signs the town of Greensboro, Maryland received about Thomas Webster, the officer who initially chased Black after receiving a 911 call that Black had been dragging another boy down the street, unaware that the two boys had known each other for years.”
During the special, the parents of Black reveal the details of his death, which took place after Webster, two additional police officers and a bystander apprehended him on his front porch. Black’s father explained to Holt that his son didn’t “attack” anyone or “rob a bank.”
“He’s at his mother’s doorstep,” he said. “All he wanted to do was go home. He’s home and you don’t get off of him? That’s not right.”
Holt also interviews Jason Johnson, the president of The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. Johnson said that Black’s death was a tragedy, but he didn’t “see any indication of malice” after watching the bodycam footage. He added that he thought the police met “the professional standard.”
After a series of follow-up questions, Johnson also told Holt, “I could tell you with some degree of certainty that Thomas Webster should not have been a Greensboro police officer at all.”
To view a preview of the special, visit nbcnews.com/dateline.
What Happened to Anton Black? will air this Friday at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.
