NAACP calls for FBI probe into man's death in parking lot

Although police have branded Christian Williams' death as accidental, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and family members question whether he was a victim of foul play.

Williams, 34, died of a broken neck after falling head first off a loading dock.

A witness told investigators that Williams was running around, flapping his arms in the air, when he tripped and fell less than four feet off the dock.

His blood-alcohol level was 0.41 percent, four times the state's legal level, according to the coroner's report.

Lonnie Feemster, NAACP chapter president, said he initially felt comfortable about the police explanation of Williams' death.

But he said he has grown suspicious since the witness has refused to meet with family members to tell them what he saw.

"We're troubled by the fact that a witness would be afraid to talk to the family," Feemster said, adding the family now suspects someone else, possibly police, was involved in the death.

An FBI investigation could determine whether any civil-rights violations surrounded his death, he said.

University of Nevada, Reno Police Chief Michael Meese said his force has done nothing wrong and cannot order a witness to talk to the family.

"We have done everything reasonable we can," he said.

Meese denied Feemster's charge that his agency's failure to issue a news release about the incident smelled of a cover-up.

"We didn't make a press release on this because we didn't want to embarrass the family," he said.

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