Chief: Cop Who Killed Michael Brown Wasn't Aware He Was a Suspect
Darren Wilson, the Ferguson cop who shot and killed Michael Brown, did not know Brown was a suspect in a shoplifting case at the time, police chief Thomas Jackson said at a press conference today. The revelation raises an obvious, troubling question: why did the department release footage and an incident report from the unrelated alleged robbery this morning?
How, other than as a character attack on the dead teenager, is that information relevant, if it didn't inform the stop? Jackson couldn't say, apparently, telling reporters only that it had been requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
@ravisomaiya No. Said the information had been FOId and was the right time, couldn't explain why
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 15, 2014
Jackson confirmed that the alleged robbery wasn't related to Brown's initial interaction with police, adding that he and a friend were stopped because "because they were walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic," the Associated Press reports.
Twitter user @TheePharoah, who claims to have witnessed the shooting, wrote that Brown was "running" when he was killed, and that police may have hit him with as many as seven bullets.
Fuckfuck fuck pic.twitter.com/UpPNMEzuwf
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
@DomoTheTruth dude was running and the cops just shot.him. i saw him die bruh
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
@SLIKK_DARKO yeah man. 7 times i think
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
@SLIKK_DARKO the first two was, the next 5 werent, he turned around
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
In a video apparently taken at the scene of Brown's death, onlookers say they heard claims that police "shot him some more while he was on the ground," and that he "he had his hands up and everything."