Plot

A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.

Lincoln Jefferson (Nate Parker), a recently divorced U.S. Marine (and Iraqi War veteran), gets a job working as a janitor at a mostly white private school, which enables him to get his son, Kajani Jefferson (Tony Espinosa), into the school so that he does not have to suffer the same fate as other black students.

Late one night, after picking his son up from a friend's house in a prestigious, all-white neighborhood, they are pulled over by police. During the traffic stop, which is recorded on body and dashcams, Kajani is shot and killed in front of his father, Jefferson by officer Mike Randall (Beau Knapp).

One year later, a documentary film crew, led by student filmmaker Jordin King (Shane Paul McGhie), requests an interview with Jefferson at the same time as the Grand Jury's decision on the guilt or innocence of Officer Randall is due to be televised. As officer Randall is cleared of all wrongdoing and it is announced there will not be a trial, violence erupts into the city. A police captain pleads with the Kajani's grieving mother asking her to make a public statement calling for calm.

After watching Kijani's mother Tayana (Milauna Jackson), make a statement on television, Jefferson decides to take matters into his own hands. He takes the police captain hostage and brings him to the precinct along with the film crew. The film crew is horrified, but Jefferson suggests to them that now they can make a real documentary. Jefferson and his veteran friends easily subdue the police station and take everyone inside hostage. Jefferson demands the trial his son Kajani was earlier denied and a mock trial is then staged. Prisoners and civilians are pressed into serving on the makeshift jury, which leads to a lot of argument and discussion regarding racial relations and tensions. Jefferson allows everyone the right to speak freely during the trial.

Officer Randall then admits racial bias on his part and that he pulled Jefferson and Kajani over because they were black in an affluent neighborhood after midnight. He then admits to shooting Kajani because he was scared for his life and that was what he was trained to do. The jury deliberates briefly and finds Randall guilty; Jefferson decides to mete out the punishment himself. He gives Randall his phone and allows him one last phone conversation with his wife and child, before putting a gun to Randall's head and threatening to execute him. Just as Jefferson pulls the trigger, it is revealed that his weapon has been empty all along and Randall's life is spared. A moment of quiet resolution between Randall and Jefferson then takes place, before Jefferson is shot by a sniper while leaving the police station. The film ends with various talking heads speculating on the motives for the invasion. (thanks to Wikipedia)