Shooting of Michael Brown

Location of Ferguson, Missouri, within St. Louis County and St. Louis County within Missouri
Date	Saturday, August 9, 2014 (2014-08-09)
Time	12:01 p.m.–12:03 p.m.
Location	Ferguson, Missouri, U.S.
Coordinates	38°44′18″N 90°16′26″W / 38.73847°N 90.27387°W / 38.73847; -90.27387[1]
Participants	Darren Wilson (shooter) Michael Brown (victim) Dorian Johnson (accompanied Brown)
Deaths	Michael Brown

The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The disputed circumstances of the shooting and the resultant protests and civil unrest received considerable attention in the United States and abroad.

Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking down the middle of the street when Wilson drove up and from his car ordered them to move to the sidewalk. Brown and Wilson struggled through the window of the police car until Wilson's gun was fired, either intentionally or as a result of the struggle . Brown and Johnson fled, then Wilson pursued them on foot firing his weapon. Wilson hit Brown with six shots, killing him. Witness reports differ greatly as to whether Brown was standing with his hands up or moving toward Wilson when the final shots were fired.

The Ferguson Police Department released a video of a convenience store robbery which occurred minutes before the shooting. It showed a confrontation between Brown and a store employee. Wilson had served as a police officer for five years, three of those with the Ferguson Police Department.^[2] He has no disciplinary history.^[3]

The shooting sparked unrest in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, in part due to the belief among protestors that Brown was surrendering as well as longstanding racial tensions between the majority-black community and the majority-white city government and police.^[4][5][6] Ferguson community demonstrated peacefully, and looting by a number of people caused clashes with police for over a week, with escalating violence and curfews at night.^[4][7] Widespread media coverage examined the militarized response by police at Ferguson dealing with the protests.

The shooting is under investigation by a county grand jury, which will decide whether Wilson should stand trial for killing Brown.^[8] The FBI is investigating whether Wilson violated Brown's civil rights.^[9] The Department of Justice is reviewing Ferguson Police Department's internal investigations of use of force during the last four years.^[10]

Background

Michael Brown Jr.

'Michael Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014) was the son of Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr.^[14] Brown graduated from Normandy High School in St. Louis eight days before his death, completing an alternative education program.^[15] His teachers said he was "a student who loomed large and didn't cause trouble," referring to him as a "gentle giant."^[16][17] At the time of his death, he was 6' 4" (1.93 m) tall and weighed 292 lb (132 kg).^[18] He was an amateur rapper and posted tracks online under the name Big Mike.^[19] Brown had no criminal record.^[20]

Brown was to have started attending Vatterott College, a technical school, on August 11,^[17][21] with plans to become a heating and cooling engineer.^[17] A friend of Brown said that while everyone else wanted to be a basketball or football player, Brown had wanted to own his own business.^[16]

Darren Wilson

Darren Dean Wilson^[23] was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 14, 1986.^[22][24] He lives in Crestwood, Missouri, a city of 11,000 people about 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Ferguson, and was 28 years old at the time of the shooting.^[25][26]

Wilson first worked as a police officer in the police department of Jennings, Missouri, later disbanded.^[27] Wilson had no disciplinary history with the department. While 12 of the 40 officers in the Jennings force found jobs with the county police, Wilson ended up taking a job in Ferguson.^[28] He was described by a Jennings coworker as an "average officer" who "didn't get into any trouble."^[23] Former Jennings Police Chief Robert Orr told the Times that he hardly remembered Wilson and said ”that must mean he never got in any trouble, because that’s when they usually came to me.”^[27][28]

In February 2014, Wilson received a commendation for "extraordinary effort in the line of duty" from the City of Ferguson.^[29][30] The citation was related to an incident in which he struggled with and detained for arrest a driver that police said was preparing a large amount of marijuana for sale.^[28][31]

Shooting incident

At 12:01 p.m. on August 9, 2014,^[7][18][32] Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson^[33][34] drove up to Brown and Dorian Johnson in the 2900 block of Canfield Drive and ordered them to move off the street and onto the sidewalk. A struggle then took place between Brown and Wilson through the window of the police car. A shot was fired from within the vehicle and the two men began to flee.^[35] Wilson left his vehicle and pursued them, firing at least six shots^[18] and fatally wounding Brown. Brown died approximately 35 feet (11 m) from the police cruiser.^[7] According to CNN, documents show that less than three minutes passed from the time Wilson encountered Brown to the time of Brown's death.^[36]

Accounts

Police

On August 10, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar stated, "The genesis of this shooting incident was a physical confrontation" during which Brown "physically assaulted the police officer."^[37] Dashboard cameras are not used in Ferguson police cars, so no video of the incident exists.^[38] According to Belmar, Wilson attempted to exit his vehicle but was pushed back into the car by Brown, who then assaulted him inside. Brown then allegedly attempted to seize Wilson's gun, which was fired at least once during the struggle. Belmar acknowledged that "more than a couple" of shots were fired in the course of the encounter.^[37][38][39]

Initially, the Ferguson City Police Department declined to release Wilson's identity^[40] and stated that he had been placed on administrative leave.^[41] Tom Jackson, Ferguson's chief of police, stated on August 13 that the officer who shot Brown was injured in the incident.^[41] On August 15, Chief Jackson announced that the name of the officer involved in the shooting was Darren Wilson. Jackson said that Wilson was a five-year police veteran with no disciplinary actions against him, rather than six years, according to a correction by the New York Times on August 26.^[2][3] The error was repeated in subsequent articles about the lives of Brown and Wilson.^[42] Jackson also stated that a "strong-arm" robbery had occurred a few minutes before the shooting at a nearby convenience store.^[42] The owners of the convenience store told KTVI that no one working at the store reported a robbery, but that the 911 call came from a customer inside the store.^[43]

Hours later, Jackson said Wilson was not aware of the robbery when he stopped Brown.^[44][45] Still later, Jackson told NBC News that while Wilson initially stopped Brown for walking in the street and blocking traffic, "at some point" during the encounter Wilson saw cigars in Brown's hands and thought he might be a suspect in the robbery.^[46] Several days later, the police department reported that Wilson said in his account to the Ferguson police that "Brown had lowered his arms and moved toward him" and that "fearing that the teenager was going to attack him, the officer decided to use deadly force."^[47] The Atlantic Wire and MSNBC have reported on the changing nature of the department's statements.^[46][48]

On August 19, the New York Times reported that, according to law enforcement officials, "As Officer Wilson got out of his car, the men were running away. The officer fired his weapon but did not hit anyone."^[47]

On August 20, Fox News and ABC News reported that, according to a background source, Wilson sustained a serious facial injury during the incident. ABC News said the source is "close to Wilson,"^[49] while Fox News characterized the source as "close to the department's top brass." According to Fox News, the source said Wilson was beaten nearly unconscious and suffered a fractured eye socket.^[50] Fox News quoted the source as saying that Wilson is "traumatized, scared for his life and his family, injured and terrified [that a grand jury will] make some kind of example out of him."^[50] The following day, CNN's Don Lemon reported that an unnamed source with the Ferguson police stated that x-rays taken after the incident "came back negative" for a fractured eye socket, noting that Wilson was treated for facial swelling and then released.^[51][52][53]

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reported on August 21 that Wilson did not complete an incident report about the shooting, after being advised by a union lawyer not to do so.^[54] According to O'Donnell, Wilson did file a report, but not until ten days after the shooting, and the report contained no information other than his name and the date.^[54] According to the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office, the Ferguson Police Department has never generated an incident report on the shooting.^[55][56]

On August 20 and 21, the St. Louis County Police and the Ferguson Police released their respective incident reports,^[56][57] which gave the time when each police force arrived on the scene and classified the incident as a homicide. Neither report contains a narrative description of what occurred.

Saki Knafo of The Huffington Post commented that the Ferguson incident report was "almost entirely blank," with the address and time of day of the shooting, and other "bare-bones details." In Knafo's opinion, police reports generally include details about the crime scene, interviews with witnesses, and the names of all the officers involved. Vanita Gupta, legal director of the ACLU, said "[it] just further demonstrates the lack of transparency and lack of information that is being provided by the Ferguson police department about the Michael Brown shooting." A spokesman for the county police said that the information they provided contains details they are required to share by law, but that other information was "protected until the investigation is complete". The report states that police learned of the killing at 12:43 p.m., 40 minutes after the incident, and that officers did not arrive at the scene until 1:30 p.m. The spokesman said that the response was slow because officers were investigating another crime at the time.^[58]

Dorian Johnson

Dorian Johnson, a friend of Brown, was walking with him in the street. Johnson said that Wilson pulled up beside them and said, "Get the fuck on the sidewalk."^{[59][60][61][62][63]} Johnson said the young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street."^[63] Johnson stated that Wilson drove forward without saying anything further, only to abruptly back up, positioning his vehicle crosswise in their path, almost hitting the two men. He said, "We were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted both off me and Big Mike's body and closed back on the officer."^[35]

Johnson said Wilson, still in his car, grabbed Brown^[64] around his neck through the open window. Brown tried to pull away, but Wilson continued to pull Brown toward him "like tug of war," according to Johnson.^[65] Johnson said that Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all," insisting that Brown was attempting to get free of Wilson rather than attempting to attack him or take his weapon from him.^{[61][66][67][68][69]} Johnson said Wilson drew his weapon, and he said, "I'll shoot you" or "I'm going to shoot," and almost instantaneously fired his weapon, hitting Brown.

Following the initial gunshot, Johnson said Brown was able to free himself, at which point the two fled. According to Johnson, Wilson exited the vehicle, after which he fired several rounds at the fleeing Brown.^{[citation needed]} According to Johnson, Brown turned around with his hands in the air, after reacting "as if he was hit"^[62] and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" Wilson then shot Brown several more times, killing him.^[35][70] Johnson's attorney stated that Wilson did not attempt to resuscitate Brown, did not call for medical help, and "he didn't call it in that someone had been shot."^[71] Johnson told local TV stations shortly after the shooting that Brown had been surrendering^[72] when Wilson opened fire without cause or warning.

Michael Brady

Michael T. Brady, who lived near the scene of the shooting, said that he observed an initial altercation on the police vehicle while inside looking through a window. "It was something strange. Something was not right. It was some kind of altercation. I can't say whether he was punching the officer or whatever. But something was going on in that window, and it didn't look right." Brady could see Johnson at the front passenger side of the car when he and Brown started running suddenly; he did not hear a gunshot or see what caused them to run. He saw Wilson get out of the patrol car and "start walking briskly while firing on Brown as he fled."^[47]

Brady then ran outside with his camera phone to record the event. By the time he got outside, Brown had turned around and was facing Wilson. Brown was "balled up" with his arms under his stomach and he was "halfway down" to the ground. As he was falling, Brown took one or two steps toward Wilson because he was presumably hit and was stumbling forward; Wilson then shot him three or four times. Brady said that the pictures he took of Brown with his arms tucked in under his body is the position he was in as he was shot three or four more times by Wilson before hitting the ground.^[73]

Piaget Crenshaw

Piaget Crenshaw said that, from her vantage point, it appeared that Wilson and Brown were arm wrestling before the former shot Brown from inside his vehicle. Wilson then chased Brown for about 20 feet before shooting him again. "I saw the police chase him ... down the street and shoot him down."^[74] When Brown then raised his arms, the officer shot him two more times, killing him.^[75]

According to earlier reports that appeared on August 10, Crenshaw saw Brown attempt to flee with his hands in the air and that he was hit with several shots as he ran.^[69][76]

On August 18, after the release of Baden's autopsy report, Crenshaw told CNN that no shots hit Brown's back as he was running away, "Clearly none of [the shots] hit him, but one, I think, did graze him as they said on the autopsy report. At the end, he just turned around ... after I'm guessing he felt the bullet grazed his arm, he turned around and he was shot multiple times."^[77]

Tiffany Mitchell

Tiffany Mitchell arrived in the area to pick up coworker Piaget Crenshaw.^[35] In an August 13 televised interview with a local CBS affiliate, Mitchell said she saw Brown and Wilson struggling through the window of Wilson's vehicle. "The kid was pulling off and the cop was pulling in." She started to take out her phone to record video, but then she heard a gunshot, "so I just started getting out of the way." After the first shot was fired, Brown started to run away. "After the shot, the kid just breaks away. The cop follows him, kept shooting, the kid's body jerked as if he was hit. After his body jerked he turns around, puts his hands up, and the cop continues to walk up on him and continues to shoot until he goes all the way down."^[78]

Mitchell also appeared on CNN that evening, describing what she witnessed as follows: "As I pull onto the side, the kid, he finally gets away, he starts running. As he runs the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him, shooting. And the kid's body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turns around and puts his hands up like this, and the cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground and his face just smacks the concrete."^[79]

Construction worker

A construction worker at the nearby apartment complex, who spoke to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on condition of anonymity, said that he saw Brown running away with Wilson 10 to 15 feet behind. About 90 feet away from the car, Wilson fired a shot at Brown, whose back was turned. Brown stumbled, stopped, put his hands up and said "“OK, OK, OK, OK, OK.” The worker believed Brown had been wounded. With his hands up, Brown began walking toward the officer, at which point Wilson began firing at Brown and backing away. After the third shot, Brown’s hands started going down, and he moved about 25 feet toward Wilson, who kept backing away and firing. The worker was unable to discern if Brown's movement towards the officer was "a stumble to the ground" or "OK, I'm going to get you, you're already shooting me." The worker disputed the claim, by defenders of Wilson, that Brown rushed at the officer, "I don't know if he was going after him or if he was falling down to die. It wasn't a bull rush."^[80]

James McKnight

James McKnight said he witnessed the shooting and that Brown held his hands in the air just after he turned to face Wilson. He stumbled toward the officer, but didn't rush him, and "the officer was about six or seven feet away" from Brown.^[47]

Phillip Walker

Phillip Walker, a 40-year-old resident of a nearby apartment complex, said he saw Brown walking "at a steady pace" toward Wilson with his hands up and that he "did not rush the officer," adding that Wilson's final shot was from a distance of about four feet.^[80]

Twitter user

An anonymous Twitter user, who witnessed the shooting, tweeted that Wilson fired twice at Brown while he was running away, and five more times after he turned around to face Wilson.^[81][82]

Bystander heard on video

Some sources suggest that an unidentified bystander, heard speaking in the background of a video filmed shortly after the shooting, appears to support the police account.^[83][84] According to The Daily Caller, after Brown stopped running and turned his back: "Next thing I know he's coming back towards the police. The police had his gun drawn on him. Police kept dumping on him, I'm thinking that the police missed him." The bystander said that he heard "at least five shots." He continued, "I think ... dude start running, kept coming toward the police."^[83][84]

Anonymous audio recording

On August 27, CNN released an audio recording which purportedly contains the sounds of the shooting.^{[85][86][87][88]} In a statement from his lawyer, a man whose identity has not been revealed claims to have been recording a video-text message at the time of the shooting.^[89] The twelve-second recording contains a series of shots, a short pause, and then a second series of shots.^[89] CNN's audio expert Paul Ginsberg says he heard six shots, a pause, and then four additional shots. Ginsberg said, "I was very concerned about that pause ... because it's not just the number of gunshots, it's how they're fired. And that has a huge relevance on how this case might finally end up." Others, including the anonymous man's lawyer, say they can hear eleven shots.^[90]

CNN gave the recording to the FBI for analysis. Former LAPD officer David Klinger and Tom Fuentes, a CNN law enforcement analyst, raised concerns that the recording may have been manipulated or trimmed, citing the two-week delay between the shooting and the release of the audio. Fuentes noted that most accounts of the shooting say there was a single shot earlier in the incident near the car that is not audible in the recording. Fuentes further stated that if the recording is authenticated, it can be used to bolster both sides of the argument of what happened during the shooting.^[91][92][93] On August 28, Glide, a video messaging service, confirmed that the audio had been recorded on their site at 12:02 p.m. on the day of the shooting.^[94][95]

The recording was analyzed by ShotSpotter, a company which developed technology to identify and locate urban gunshots in real time, using microphones mounted throughout a city. ShotSpotter could not verify, with available information, that the recording is of the Michael Brown shooting. The company did say that it is the sound of ten gunshots within less than seven seconds, with a three-second pause after the sixth shot. It also said that all ten rounds were fired from within a three-foot radius—that the shooter was not moving. It identified seven additional sounds as echoes of gunshots.^[96]

Investigations

Procedures

Police investigation

On August 10, Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County Police Department, announced that their department would be in charge of the investigation, after receiving a request from Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson to investigate the shooting.^[38][97] The Ferguson Police Department initially declined to name the officer involved in the shooting, citing concerns for his safety, and refused to commit to a deadline for releasing a full autopsy report.^[70] Robert P. McCulloch, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, will be the official charged with determining if state charges will be filed.^[97] On August 20, a grand jury started hearing evidence in the shooting.^[98]

County executive Charlie Dooley called for a special prosecutor, saying that McCulloch is "biased and shouldn't handle the case."^[99] Democratic politicians said that the investigation should be conducted by a higher authority than the local prosecutor officer because of a poor history of prosecuting law enforcement officers^[100] in controversial cases, and said that McCulloch should withdraw.^[101]

FBI investigation

On August 11, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a parallel civil rights investigation into the incident,^[9] and United States Attorney General Eric Holder instructed the Justice Department's staff to monitor the developments.^[102] According to the spokeswoman for the FBI's St. Louis field office, the protests and riots played no role in the FBI's decision to investigate.^[103]

On August 16, Ron Johnson, a captain in the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said there were 40 FBI agents going door-to-door looking for potential witnesses that may have information about the shooting.^[104][105] Additionally, the Justice Department confirmed that attorneys from its Civil Rights Division and from the United States Attorney's Office were participating in the investigation.^[105]

Department of Justice investigations

On August 13, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Richard G. Callahan, announced a civil rights investigation into the case.^[106]

On August 17, Attorney General Holder authorized an additional autopsy of Brown by a federal medical examiner.^[107] A spokesman for the Justice Department cited "the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case" and a request by the Brown family for the autopsy.^[107]

On September 4, the Justice Department announced plans to investigate the Ferguson police department for possible civil rights violations. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division will conduct a "pattern and practice" investigation that will review overall police department policies.^{[108][109][110]}

Robbery incident report and video release

According to information released by the Ferguson Police Department on August 15, Brown and Johnson were suspects in a "strong-arm robbery" of a convenience store (defined as a robbery in which physical force is used but not a weapon).^[111] The report stated that the convenience store's surveillance footage (which was also released) showed Brown grabbing a box of Swisher Sweet cigars, followed by an "apparent struggle or confrontation" between Brown and a store clerk.^[71][112] According to Tom Jackson, Ferguson's police chief, a 911 call was received at 11:51 a.m. and, after a description of the robbers was communicated by dispatchers, officer Darren Wilson encountered Brown and Johnson at 12:01 p.m.^[112][113] On August 15, Chief Jackson confirmed "the initial contact with Brown was not related to the robbery." He also stated that the officer was unaware that Brown was a suspect in the robbery, and that Brown and Johnson were stopped for blocking traffic.^{[46][114][115]} Freeman Bosley, the attorney for Dorian Johnson, confirmed that they had in fact entered the store and cigarillos were taken, and that Johnson had informed the FBI, DOJ, and St. Louis County Police of this fact.^[46] In previous interviews, Johnson described the events of the shooting but did not mention that he and Brown had been in a convenience store just before, or that Brown had stolen anything.^[46] Chief Jackson said that Johnson would not be charged in the alleged robbery, stating that they had determined he did not steal anything or use force.^[116]

On August 15, the Ferguson police released reports on the robbery (Ferguson Police Offense/Incident Report: "complaint No. 12-12388") and the shooting incident ("Ferguson Police Report #2014-12391" and "St. Louis County Police Report #2014-43984")^[117] in a packet of materials that included the surveillance video,^{[118][119][120]} as well as the name of the police officer who shot Brown, identifying him as Darren Wilson, a six-year veteran of the department, who lived in Crestwood, Missouri.^[119][121]

The Department of Justice had urged the video not be released, saying a release would inflame tension.^[122][123] Ronald Johnson, the Highway Patrol captain put in charge of policing Ferguson, said "I would have liked to have been consulted."^[124] When asked why the police department released the video, Jackson stated that he did so in response to a large number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Huffington Post reported "Ferguson Police Chief Lied About Why He Released Alleged Michael Brown Robbery Tape", quoting Matthew Keys of The Blot that "the police department did not receive any specific requests for the videotape", but later printed a response from the Ferguson City Attorney Stephanie Karr that the St. Louis Post Dispatch had requested “all documentation concerning the events leading up to and including the shooting of Michael Brown" including “video retained by the police department” and that Judicial Watch had requested "all records relating to Michael Brown" dated August 1 through 9th. She corrected Jackson's statement, saying that release was to comply with the statutory deadline in Missouri's "Sunshine Law", which had been reached, not the federal Freedom of Information Act.^[120]

Reactions

The family of Michael Brown released a statement in which they condemn the way the police chief chose to disseminate information, which they said it was "intended to assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of his person in broad daylight," and "there is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender."^{[2] [125]}

Johnson's attorney, Freeman Bosley, confirmed that Brown had taken cigars from the store. "We see that there's tape, that they claim they got a tape that shows there was some sort of strong-armed robbery," Bosley said. "We need to see that tape, my client did tell us and told the FBI that they went into the store. He told FBI that [Brown] did take cigarillos. He told that to the DOJ and the St. Louis County Police."^[46] In previous interviews, Johnson described the events of the shooting but did not mention that he and Brown had been in a convenience store just before, or that Brown had stolen anything.^[46]

Anthony Rothert, the legal director for the Missouri branch of the ACLU, who had sued for the release of the incident report describing Brown's shooting, told ABC News in response to the report that "I think it's fair to say that releasing some records, but not releasing others when they're equally public record seems to be an intentional effort to distract the public. They're hiding it for whatever reason ... That leaves the public to imagine why that's being hidden."^[126]

Wayne Fisher, a professor with the Rutgers University Police Institute in New Jersey, said that "if the robbery in any way caused the initial contact, it has relevance ... if it didn't, it has none. The use of deadly force in this situation will be authorized if the officer reasonably believed his life was in danger, that question does not appear to be directly related to whether or not Brown was a suspect in a robbery." Eugene O'Donnell, a former district attorney in New York City who now serves as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that while the police officer may have stopped Brown for jaywalking, Brown may have been thinking the officer knew about the robbery: "Obviously the cop's reaction is not affected, but what could be affected is [Brown's] reaction to the cop."^[127]

Daniel Isom II, a retired St. Louis police chief who now teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was critical of Jackson's leadership, saying that: "It's clear the Ferguson chief is overwhelmed by the magnitude of this incident. He has been releasing information as he sees appropriate, but maybe not taking into consideration the impact of releasing that information."^[128]

In an interview with CBS's Face the Nation on August 17, Governor Nixon blamed the local police chief for the renewed violence in Ferguson after the release of the robbery tapes, stating, "it had an incendiary effect. When you release pictures and you clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting, shot down in his own street, a young man, and at the same time you're releasing information ... to tarnish him, then properly, there was a lot of folks that were concerned about that, and I do think it flamed it back up and has caused us to have to deal with some of that."^[129]

Autopsies

Three autopsies have been performed on Brown's body. All three noted that Brown had been shot at least six times, including twice in the head, with no shots in the back.^[130]

County autopsy

The local medical examiner autopsy report released to state prosecutors said that Brown was shot in the front part of his body. When Mary Case, the St. Louis County medical examiner, was asked to provide details, she declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation into Brown's death.^[47][131]

Independent autopsy

On August 17, a preliminary autopsy was conducted by Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, at the request of the family. According to the report, Brown was shot six times into his front: four of the bullets entered his right arm, one entered his right eye on a downward trajectory, and one entered the top of his skull.^[18] According to Baden, all of the rounds were fired from a distance of at least one to two feet.^[132] Baden stated, "This one here looks like his head was bent downward, it can be because he's giving up, or because he's charging forward at the officer."^{[18][65][133]}

One of the shots to Brown's head shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, then exited his jaw and reentered his collarbone. The shot that entered the top of Brown's skull caused the fatal injury, according to Baden. Baden also provided a diagram of the entry wounds, noting that the six shots produced multiple wounds, with some of the bullets entering and exiting several times.^[18] He also said that Brown could have survived the first bullet wounds, but the bullet that entered the top of his head resulted in a fatal injury.^[134]

Shawn L. Parcells, who assisted Baden on the autopsy, said that a wound to the right arm was consistent with Brown either having his back to the officer, facing the officer with his hands above his head, or in a defensive position.^[135]

Baden had no access to the clothing of the victim, and had not yet seen the x-rays showing where bullets were in the body He could not determine if any gunpowder residue was on that clothing. He stated that "Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting." and that, in his capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, he would have said, "'You're not supposed to shoot so many times'."^[18] At least two commentators have alleged that the autopsy appears to contradict some aspects of eyewitness accounts, including that Wilson shot Brown in the back^[18] and that Wilson shot Brown while holding Brown's neck.^[136]

Federal autopsy

Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a third autopsy of Michael Brown.^{[137][138][139]} On August 19, military coroners released the autopsy results to federal authorities showing that Brown was shot six times, but declined to release additional details until the federal investigation is concluded.^[140]

Grand jury

On August 20, a grand jury started hearing evidence in the shooting of Brown and they will decide "whether a crime was committed and whether there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed it." The St. Louis County prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch, said the state will finish presenting evidence to the grand jury "hopefully by the middle of October."^[98][141] On August 17, Cornell Brooks, the president of the NAACP, had called for a special prosecutor in the case, saying that was needed to restore credibility with Ferguson's black community.^[142] On August 21, State Senator Jamilah Nasheed presented a petition with 70,000 signatures calling for McCulloch's recusal.^[143]

At least nine members of the 12-person grand jury panel must agree to issue an indictment.^[98] The panel includes three black members (one man and two women) and nine white members (six men and three women).^[144] Immediately after an order by Circuit Court Judge Carolyn Whittington,^[145] who ruled that demographic information about jurors should be available, the court's judicial administrator released a breakdown by gender and race.

Aftermath in Ferguson

Peaceful protests and civil disorder broke out the day following Brown's shooting and lasted for several days. As the details of the original shooting event emerged from investigators, police grappled with establishing curfews and maintaining order, while members of the Ferguson community demonstrated in various ways in the vicinity of the original shooting.

On the day of the shooting, a makeshift memorial to Brown was established in the street where he was shot. Flowers and candles were scattered over the bloodstains on the pavement. That night, according to Mother Jones, a police officer allowed his dog to urinate on the memorial and it was later crushed as police drove over and through it. These incidents inflamed tensions in the community, according to Missouri state Rep. Sharon Pace, who said "That made people in the crowd mad and it made me mad."^[146]

The protests began the day after the shooting. On August 10, a day of memorials began peacefully, but some crowd members became unruly after an evening candlelight vigil.^[147] Local police stations assembled approximately 150 officers in riot gear.^[148] Some people began looting businesses, vandalizing vehicles, and confronting police officers who sought to block off access to several areas of the city.^[147] At least 12 businesses were looted or vandalized, and a gas station was also set on fire, leading to over 30 arrests. Many windows were broken and several nearby businesses closed on Monday.^[149] The people arrested face charges of assault, burglary, and theft. Police used a variety of equipment, including riot gear and helicopters, to disperse the crowd by 2:00 a.m.^[150] Two police officers suffered minor injuries during the events.^[151]

Widespread media coverage examined the post 9/11 trend of local police departments arming themselves with military-grade weapons when dealing with protests.^[152][153]

In late August, Ferguson police officers began wearing body-mounted video cameras donated by Safety Visions and Digital Ally. Fifty cameras were donated and made available to each officer.^[154][155]

Reactions

Federal government

• August 12 – President Obama offered his condolences to Brown's family and community. He stated that the Department of Justice was investigating the situation along with local officials.^[156]
• August 12 – Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted similar descriptions of Ferguson as a "war zone" in the aftermath of the police actions, with Amash calling the situation "frightening" on August 13 and Warren demanding answers on August 14.^[157]
• August 14 – In an op-ed in Time Magazine, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said that police forces need to be demilitarized and that "the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy" and that "anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention."^[158]
• August 16 – Lacy Clay, the U.S. congressman who represents Ferguson, stated that he had "absolutely no confidence in the Ferguson police, the county prosecutor" to conduct a fair investigation into Brown's death.^[159] Clay suggested that the police had released the information about the robbery in order to "negatively influence a jury pool in St. Louis County" and to "assassinate Michael Brown's character." On August 17, Clay called for "a national conversation about how police forces should interact with the African-American community."
• August 18 – President Obama announced that the Department of Justice had launched an independent, federal civil rights investigation into Brown's death.^[160]
• August 22 – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in an interview with The National Law Journal that the events at Ferguson and the stop-and-frisk policies in New York City point to a "real racial problem" in the U.S.^[161]
• September 4 – Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department will investigate Ferguson police force for possible misconduct or discrimination, saying that, "[w]e have determined that there is cause for the Justice Department to open an investigation to determine whether Ferguson police officials have engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the U.S. constitution or federal law.”^[162]

State government

• August 14 – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon stated that the Ferguson riots were "deeply challenging" and promised "operational shifts" to ease the situation,^[163] using the Missouri State Highway Patrol to direct security.^[164]
• August 15 – Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Missouri state senator who represented parts of Ferguson and was tear-gassed during the demonstrations, said in an interview, "It doesn't matter if Michael Brown committed theft or not. That's not the issue. The issue is what happened when Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown, and when he died—when he was killed. Those are the only facts that are necessary."^[165]
• August 16 – Following looting and violence, Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews.^[166]
• August 18 – When curfews failed to stem the violence, Governor Nixon lifted them and activated the Missouri National Guard to support police operations.^[167][168]
• August 19 – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon demanded "a vigorous prosecution" of Officer Wilson, a comment that elicited widespread criticism. His Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder condemned Nixon's comment, stating, "It's really heartbreaking to see a man elected to an office that high in our state government, the chief executive of Missouri state government, come out with a statement like that that does prejudge the case." Peter Joy, director of the Washington University School of Law's Criminal Justice Clinic, said that it is highly unusual for an elected official to demand an individual's prosecution.^[169]
• August 21 – Governor Nixon withdrew the National Guard from Ferguson.^[170]

Local authorities

• August 11 – The school district in nearby Jennings cancelled its first day of classes, "due to safety concerns for students who walk to school."^[171][172]
• August 12 – St. Louis Police Department chief Sam Dotson decided against providing any more manpower to Ferguson owing to concerns about the welfare of the protesters and police handling of the situation.^[173]
• August 13 – The Ferguson-Florissant School District postponed its first day of classes from Thursday to the following Monday, "in order to allow time for the situation to stabilize and all of our students and their families to resume normal routines."^[174] On Sunday, August 17, the school district cancelled Monday classes due to ongoing unrest, as did Jennings and Riverview Gardens.^[175]
• August 18 – Shortly after 9 p.m. on Monday, administrators for the district announced that school would continue to be closed through the end of the school week.^[176][177]

Brown family

• August 10 – Responding to widespread looting and violence in the area, an unidentified cousin of Michael Brown released a statement to a local television station against the violence on behalf of the family:^[178] "[We] just want everyone to know and understand that the stealing and breaking in stores is not what Mike will want, it is very upsetting to me and my family. Our family didn’t ask for this but for justice and peace. Please let my family grieve in peace (and) stop the violence in the street tonight, we don’t want this happening when we protest for justice for my cousin Mike Brown, please get this message out to the people that the Mike Brown family do not want this."^[150]

Third parties

• August 10 – Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network announced their plans to travel to St. Louis.^[179][180]
• August 10 – Local pastors held a vigil on Sunday morning.^[180] Another vigil was planned on the same day, at 8:00 p.m. in the area where Brown was killed.^[180]
• August 13 – A petition was created on We the People, a petitioning system on the official White House website, calling for a federal law requiring police officers to wear body-mounted video cameras while on duty. As of September 1, the petition had more than 150,000 signatures, exceeding the threshold of 100,000 signatures required for an official response from the White House.^[181]
• August 13 – A fundraising webpage was created for Michael Brown's family.^[182][183]
• A similar online fundraising drive for Wilson achieved its desired goal of $235,000 within four days and was followed by one for Wilson in association with a tax-deductible charity.^{[184][185][186]}
• August 14 – National vigils and marches occurred on Thursday evening, in over 100 cities around the U.S., with thousands in attendance. They were organized by @FeministaJones, using Twitter and the #NMOS14 hashtag.^[187][188]
• Hacktivists claiming an association with Anonymous and operating under the codename "Operation Ferguson" organized cyberprotests by setting up a website and a Twitter account.^[189] The group promised that if any protesters were harassed or harmed, they would attack the city's servers and computers, taking them offline.^[189] City officials said that e-mail systems were targeted and phones died, while the Internet crashed at the City Hall.^[189][190] Prior to August 15, members of Anonymous corresponding with Mother Jones said that they were working on confirming the identity of the police officer who shot Brown and would release his name as soon as they did.^[191] On August 14, Anonymous posted on its Twitter feed what it claimed was the name of the officer involved in the shooting.^[192][193] However, police said the identity released by Anonymous was incorrect.^[194] Twitter subsequently suspended the Anonymous account from its service.^[195]
• August 17 – A group of Tibetan monks joined the protesters in Ferguson on Sunday.^[196]
• August 17 – About 150 people protested in downtown St. Louis in support of Darren Wilson. The protesters said that Wilson had been victimized and that any punishment for him would cause law enforcement officers to be "frightened to do their jobs".^[197]
• August 17 – Cornell Brooks, the president of the NAACP, called for a special prosecutor in the case, saying that was needed to restore credibility with Ferguson's black community.^[142]
• August 18 – Pew Research published the results of a poll conducted August 14–17 among 1,000 adults, which found stark racial and political divisions in reactions to the shooting. By about four-to-one (80% to 18%), African-Americans said the shooting raised important issues about race, while whites, by 47% to 37%, said the issue of race is getting more attention than it deserves. The divide in public opinion was also observed across partisan lines, with 68% of Democrats (including 62% of white Democrats) saying they believe the incident raises important issues about race that merit discussion, while 61% of Republicans said the issue of race has gotten too much attention. Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to view the police response to as appropriate (43%), compared with 56% of Democrats who said police response went too far. Sixty-five percent of Republicans expressed confidence in the investigations into the incident, compared with 38% of Democrats.^[198]
• August 28 – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out, calling for the country to address "inequities" in the criminal justice system.^[199]

International

Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for U.S. authorities to ensure protection of the protesters' rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Through a spokesman, Ban called for "all to exercise restraint, for law enforcement officials to abide by U.S. and international standards in dealing with demonstrators."^[200]

Amnesty International sent a team of human rights observers, trainers, and researchers to Ferguson. It was the first time the organization deployed such a team in the United States.^{[101][201][202]} In a press release, AI USA director Steven W. Hawkins said, "The U.S. cannot continue to allow those obligated and duty-bound to protect to become those who their community fears most."^[203]

Various heads of state and foreign news organizations have commented on the shooting and subsequent protests including the Chinese Xinhua News Agency, Germany's Der Spiegel,^[204] Egypt's Ministry of Foreign affairs,^[205] the Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency,^[204] protestors throughout the Middle East,^[206] the Russian Foreign Ministry,^[204] Spain's El Mundo,^[207] the British Metro,^[208] and others.^[204]

Funeral

Brown's funeral was hosted at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, in St. Louis on Monday, August 25 at 10:00 a.m.^[209] The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity paid the entire costs for the memorial and funeral services.^[210][211] At a rally held the day before, Brown's family asked that supporters suspend their protests for one day out of respect for the funeral proceedings.^[212]

The service was attended by an estimated 4,500 people, including three White House officials: Broderick Johnson, head of the White House's "My Brother's Keeper Task Force"; Marlon Marshall, who attended high school with Brown's mother; and Heather Foster, who works in the Office of Public Engagement.^[213] Al Sharpton delivered one of two eulogies.^[214][215]

See also

• Death of Eric Garner
• List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
• List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, August 2014
• Shooting of Amadou Diallo
• Shooting of Trayvon Martin

References

External links

• Surveillance video that police contend shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store.
• Police Department incident report of contemporaneous convenience store robbery
• Video taken by Piaget Crenshaw of crime scene just after the shooting incident. (Interview by CNN)
• Michael Brady interview with MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell
• Social media posts from scene of Ferguson shooting, curated by St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Video interview of eyewitness Dorian Johnson on CNN
• Video of St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar giving his department's version of the circumstances and events that led to the death of Michael Brown
• Video interview of eyewitness Tiffany Mitchell on CNN
• Video interview of an unnamed eyewitness discussing the events that ended in vandalism, looting, and burning of Quik Trip store.
• Rachel Maddow interview with City Alderman, Antonio French the day after his arrest in Ferguson on charges of disorderly conduct