Eight witnesses say Mike Brown did not need to die
“WASHINGTON — The people who saw Michael Brown die all tell a similar story. Several named witnesses have said that Brown was fleeing when Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson fired several shots and that the 18-year-old had turned around and had his hands up when the officer shot several more rounds, killing him in the middle of the street.”___________________________
“Sunny Hostin, a CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, says it’s important to note that several witnesses are telling the same story. “They’re saying that he was running from the police
officer and that his hands were up,” she said. “I don’t know what other witness testimony at this point or account we have to hear.
The bottom line is having your hands up is the universal sign
for surrender.”
officer and that his hands were up,” she said. “I don’t know what other witness testimony at this point or account we have to hear.
The bottom line is having your hands up is the universal sign
for surrender.”_________________________
“Autopsies by the county and Brown’s family found that he was shot by Wilson at least six times, including twice to the head. McCulloch
disclosed on Monday that Wilson’s gun was fired 12 times in the course of the encounter.”
disclosed on Monday that Wilson’s gun was fired 12 times in the course of the encounter.”
“While some did they say they saw Brown raise his hands in the air, McCulloch said, “several witnesses said that Mr Brown did not raise his arms at all, or raised them briefly”
________________________“Yes I personally saw him on his knees with his hands in the air,” one witness said in a recorded interview with federal officials that was played for the grand jury before he testified.
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“An older man in the nearby housing complex was blunt about what he saw happening.
“You have to understand the mentality of some of these young guys,” he said, describing those who flocked to the scene in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. “They have nothing to do. If they can latch onto something, they embellish it because they want something to do.”
That man dismissed the notion that Brown had raised his hands to the sky in a gesture that turned into a symbol for the protest movement in Ferguson.He was also adamant, however, that Brown had never charged at Wilson but had staggered, wounded, his arms outstretched in a gesture of surrender.
|“He had his hands up, palm facing the officer like, ‘OK, you got me,’” the man recalled, adding at a later point that he himself had once been shot so he knew what it was like.”
______________________
“Some recalled shouting out to him at that moment or turning to their family members in horror. When Brown moved toward Wilson, one witness said, he “just went forward like his body was just going down.”
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“Dorian Johnson told reporters that Wilson grabbed Brown by the neck and shot the 18-year-old as he escaped the struggle. Several other witnesses, including two workmen cutting nearby trees at the time, have agreed that Brown appeared to be surrendering when he was shot dead.”___________________________________
“Tiffany Mitchell and Piaget Crenshaw, months after the shooting, stating that they stand by their accounts and stating that they saw Mike Brown shot with his hands up, surrendering.”
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“A shot was fired, and Brown broke away and started to run down the street away from the police car. Mitchell said the officer then got out of his vehicle and started to pursue Brown, all the while shooting at him.
“Michael’s body jerked as if he were hit,” Mitchell said.
“Then he turns around and put his hands up, and the officer continued to walk up on him and shoot him, until he goes all the way down to the ground.”
_____________________________Crenshaw was the employee that Mitchell was coming to pick up. She was standing on her apartment balcony and saw Brown running away from Wilson.
“I witnessed the police chase after the guy—full force,” Crenshaw told local news reporters in Ferguson. “[Brown] put his arm up to let them know that he was compliant and that he was unarmed, and they shot him twice more, and he fell to the ground and died.”
Crenshaw explained to reporters on the scene, “[Brown] was running this way, but his body is laying this way because he turned around to tell the police that he was unarmed.“He didn’t have no weapon on him at all,” she continued. “They killed this boy for no reason, and there should be justice about this.”
____________________________
“The man said that Brown put his hands up and started screaming, “OK! OK! OK! OK! OK!” The witness claims that the police officer didn’t tell Brown to get on the ground or anything.
“He just started shooting,” the man continued, estimating that the officer shot Brown six or seven times after he turned around to seemingly surrender. “There’s no way you can justify it.”________________________
The autopsy proves Mike Brown was falling forward, staggering or on his knees when the last four shots were fired. The final shot went in the top of his head and came out his eye.
Now I suppose it is possible that ALL of the above witnesses (telling virtually the same story) are lying and only Officer Wilson is telling the truth, but I don’t buy it.
Those last four fatal shots were not fired at some biblical “demon” or a comic book “Hulk Hogan.” When the officer was looking “down his gun barrel’ at Mike’s head, he saw a seriously wounded 18 year old young black man who eight witnesses said was trying to surrender. Darren Wilson’s “tunnel vision” and relative inexperience contributed to what may have been an avoidable death.
What we need is an open public trial and accountability, not a get out of jail free card from a mostly white grand jury.~Tim Flanagan,
associate editor
at The Portland Alliance
associate editor
at The Portland Alliance
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RevolutionResource.org 
Greetings! Very helpful guidance on this article! It truly is the small changes that
make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
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We have a big hill to climb in achieving police reform. Proactive journalism makes a difference. Thanks for your input.
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