After a software program spent more than a year trying 780,000 potential passwords, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced Tuesday that it was able to unlock a cell phone with video capturing events the day Winston Smith was fatally shot by two deputies.

On June 3, 2021, Winston “Boogie” Smith Jr., of St. Paul, was sitting in a parked vehicle in the former Calhoun Square ramp at Lake Street and Girard Avenue. When two deputies working for the U.S. Marshals Service tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant, authorities say he “didn’t comply with law enforcement and produced a handgun resulting in task force members firing upon the subject.”

Winston Boogie Smith Jr. (Norhan Askar via AP)

He died at the scene.

“During its 2021 investigation, agents with the BCA Force Investigation Unit learned that Smith may have tried to record or livestream a video during the incident. Despite using the best technology available at the time they could not unlock the phone, and could not confirm that the video existed.”

Ultimately the case went to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for review, which referred the case to the Crow Wing County Attorney’s Office. After the county attorney declined charges, evidence from the case was returned to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

In November 2023, upon learning that “another entity may have accessed the phone and found video,” agents retrieved the phone from the county sheriff’s office and again installed unlocking software. For a year, the software tried more than 780,000 password combinations until on Nov. 21, 2024, it was able to unlock the phone, according to a BCA release.

The BCA says it was able to retrieve video evidence from the phone capturing the incident.

It turned over the video and related reports to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The video is under review and not public, the BCA said. Once the review is complete, the BCA will make the video available to the public.

“Our accredited digital evidence laboratory uses the most advanced unlocking software available to law enforcement,” said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “Lawful access to evidence that is thwarted by evolving encryption technology is a constant challenge.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the video is under review.

“After accessing the video on Winston Smith’s phone, the BCA immediately informed our office and provided it to us. It is currently under review,” Moriarty said in a prepared statement. “We appreciate the BCA’s due diligence and promptness in sharing the video after it was recovered. We will communicate further updates as available.”

The day he was shot, deputies were trying to arrest Smith on a May 19, 2021 warrant that was issued after he didn’t attend sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a person ineligible due to a previous crime of violence.

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