An account has emerged claiming that Michael Brown was the initial aggressor in the fatal encounter with Ferguson, MO Police Officer Darren Wilson. The account comes from a person identified only as Josie who phoned into a radio program called “The Dana Show.” Here’s the call:
CNN reported that: “A source with detailed knowledge of the investigation later told CNN the caller’s account is “accurate,” in that it matches what Wilson has told investigators.” That’s pretty unremarkable since Josie tells the radio host that she got the information from Officer Wilson’s “significant other.”
If the account is true it might make a big difference for Officer Wilson since the shooting investigation is being presented to a St. Louis grand jury starting today. Those secret proceedings could continue into mid October and seem likely to end without a homicide indictment against the officer.
But the circumstances of the shooting have become secondary at this point. Today, the conflict in Ferguson is more about the police response to the community’s outrage and the tensions that caused the scene to explode. Justified or not, the shooting should be a catalyst for some real discussion about the use of force, militarization of law enforcement and the role of policing in America.
Attorney General Eric Holder will be in Ferguson today. You can see his statements on the situation here and most recently here. The feds are be investigating the shooting and the police response to the protestors. It will be interesting to see what comes of that.
The post If Michael Brown was the initial aggressor, does it matter? appeared first on Portland Press Herald Contributors.