I'm Not From America So I Don't Get What Happened To Brown...

I'm not from America so I don't get what happened to Brown...

Michael Brown, described by his teachers as a ‘gentle giant’, was an eighteen year old who had just graduated high school, saying to one of his friends ‘we made it' and telling him that “he wasn’t going to end up like some people on the streets. He was going to get an education. He was going to make his life a whole a lot better." 

On the 9th of August, 2014, a Saturday, Michael and a friend, Dorian Johnson, whose account can be seen in the link, were walking down Canfield Drive to Michaels grandmothers house when a police vehicle cut them off. 

According to Johnson, the police officer, named Darren Wilson "approached us, and as he pulled up on the side of us, he didn’t say ‘freeze,’ ‘halt,’ or nothing like we were committing a crime. He said, ‘Get the f—- on the sidewalk!’ I told the officer we were not but a minute away from the destination.” 

The official reason the police officer approached them was because of jaywalking, which was stated by Police Chief Jackson: "Police Chief Thomas Jackson said Wilson did not initially make a connection between the robbery and Brown … Wilson stopped Brown and a friend because "they were in the middle of the street, blocking traffic," Jackson said."

What happened next is of contention - witnesses have their accounts as do the police and Darren Wilson - but what can be certain is that there was a physical struggle between Michael and Wilson, as there was Michaels DNA found inside the car

Wilson states "punches started flying" but I find it odd that a 289 pound, 6’4 man in his prime didn’t create more damage to Wilsons face. It’s odd that there is hardly any swelling when a man who is 80 pounds heavier than Wilson, and has the advantage of being outside the car, is punching the officers face so much so that Wilson felt like his life was threatened, no? 

Brown was also UNARMED, as he reportedly stated numerous times to Officer Wilson. 

The first shot was then fired, smashing the glass and Michael began to flee. At some point, Michael was hit in the arm and turned to face Wilson, his hands up and saying "don’t shoot" before being shot a collective six times, with one fatal shot to the head, including the eye.

Wilson estimated that "Brown ran 20-30 feet away from the car and then charged another 10 feet back towards him." But Brown died 150 feet away from the car. It’s impossible that he charged another 10 feet. 

Wilson describing the altercation before Michael was killed: “The only way I can describe it, it [Michael] looks like a demon, that’s how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up.” It. He called Michael ‘it’. And a demon. Does that not give some indication to what Wilson was thinking when he killed Michael? 

@TheePharoah then tweets “I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMG” with a link to a picture of Wilson standing over Browns body, but I will not link that. 

Browns body was left on the street for 4 and a half hours. No ambulance was called. The police didn’t even let Michaels mother see the body of her son. She later talked to reporters at the scene. 

In the later afternoon, this image of Browns stepfather went viral on twitter, holding a sign saying ‘FERGUSON POLICE JUST EXECUTED MY UNARMED SON’ 

Antonio French provided coverage via twitter and vine when no one else was in the hours after Michaels death (x) (x) (x) (x)

Peaceful Protests occurred in the following days on the streets of Ferguson. The protestors were blasted with tear gas and were ran out of the streets by a militarised police force. 

A no fly zone was put into place, the media were forced to leave, and protests were banned by the police force in the next few days. 

August 15th, Ferguson Police Dept. release a tape they brand as Michael Brown robbing a local convenience store by stealing $48 worth of cigarillos. Police didn’t include this footage which shows Michael Brown paying for the cigarillos.  Wilson also didn’t complete an incident report, which is against the law. 

Store owner states through his lawyer that he, nor his employees, called 9/11 about the ‘petty theft’ and that the Ferguson Police Dept. had requested the tape days after Michael was murdered. 

Store owner attorney states: “Whatever the police are looking for on the surveillance tape, has nothing to do with what went on in the street.”

November 24th: After nearly four months of paid leave, in which time a fundraiser for Darren Wilson raised over $400,000, Wilson got married, a Grand Jury came to their decision to not indict Darren Wilson. Here is the transcript for those sittings, including every piece of evidence used. Here are all the ‘facts’. They had been hearing evidence since August 20th. A Grand Jury’s decision to not indict is extremely rare, about 0.006% of cases aren’t indicted as of 2010

Some other interesting links: Conflict of interest with the Prosecuting Attorney that hints at bias, the rarity of a Grand Jury not indicting, leader of the KKK admits to off the record contact with the police, Anonymous has evidence that Darren Wilson has a connection to the KKK, Darren Wilson racially profiled before he killed Michael Brown

If you want to help, there are a variety of ways you can: this campaign for bail for ferguson protestors, change.com petition against police violence, sign this ‘we the people’ petition, sign this petition to take the case to the supreme court, donate to Ferguson library which is open despite the schools being closed, watch livestreams and by spreading information of what’s going on in Ferguson - talk about DeAndre Joshua, 20, who was killed in the riots yesterday while in his car. Talk about Michael Brown. Spread information about the protests, about how to protect yourself from tear gas, about their innate human rights. Support the protestors, and support the black community. 

I know I’m missing stuff, so if there is anything else I’m missing, or you think should be added, please do. If anything is found to be offensive, please message me and I’ll make changes to the links.