EXPLOSIVE: Government Officials Tell New York Times There Is No Evidence To Support Federal Charges Against #Ferguson Officer Wilson
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WASHINGTON
— The police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.,
two months ago has told investigators that he was pinned in his vehicle
and in fear for his life as he struggled over his gun with Mr. Brown,
according to government officials briefed on the federal civil rights
investigation into the matter.
The
officer, Darren Wilson, has told the authorities that during the
scuffle, Mr. Brown reached for the gun. It was fired twice in the car,
according to forensics tests performed by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The first bullet struck Mr. Brown in the arm; the second
bullet missed.
The
forensics tests showed Mr. Brown’s blood on the gun, as well as on the
interior door panel and on Officer Wilson’s uniform. Officer Wilson told
the authorities that Mr. Brown had punched and scratched him
repeatedly, leaving swelling on his face and cuts on his neck.
This
is the first public account of Officer Wilson’s testimony to
investigators, but it does not explain why, after he emerged from his
vehicle, he fired at Mr. Brown multiple times. It contradicts some
witness accounts, and it will not calm those who have been demanding to
know why an unarmed man was shot a total of six times. Mr. Brown’s death continues to fuel anger and sometimes-violent protests.
In
September, Officer Wilson appeared for four hours before a St. Louis
County grand jury, which was convened to determine whether there is
probable cause that he committed a crime. Legal experts have said that
his decision to testify was surprising, given that it was not required
by law. But the struggle in the car may prove to be a more influential
piece of information for the grand jury, one that speaks to Officer
Wilson’s state of mind, his feeling of vulnerability and his sense of
heightened alert when he killed Mr. Brown.
Police officers typically have wide latitude to use lethal force if they reasonably believe that they are in imminent danger.
The
officials said that while the federal investigation was continuing, the
evidence so far did not support civil rights charges against Officer
Wilson. To press charges, the Justice Department would need to clear a
high bar, proving that Officer Wilson willfully violated Mr. Brown’s
civil rights when he shot him.
The
account of Officer Wilson’s version of events did not come from the
Ferguson Police Department or from officials whose activities are being
investigated as part of the civil rights inquiry.
In
the many accounts of Mr. Brown’s death, the most potent imagery has
come from his final moments, when he and Officer Wilson faced each other
on Canfield Drive. Some witnesses have said that he appeared to be
surrendering with his hands in the air as he was hit with the fatal
gunshots. Others have said that Mr. Brown was moving toward Officer
Wilson when he was killed.
Few
witnesses had perfect vantage points for the fight in the car, which
occurred just after noon on Aug. 9. Mr. Brown was walking down the
middle of the street with a friend, Dorian Johnson, when Officer Wilson
stopped his S.U.V., a Chevy Tahoe, to order them to the sidewalk.
Within
seconds, the encounter turned into a physical struggle, as the officer
and Mr. Brown became entangled through the open driver’s-side window.
One
witness, Piaget Crenshaw, said later that while she could not see
clearly, it appeared Mr. Brown was “trying to flee.” Another witness,
Tiffany Mitchell, said that she had watched with alarm from a close
distance and that as the two briefly struggled, “Michael was pulling off
and the cop was trying to pull him in.”
Michael
T. Brady, who lives nearby, said that the altercation was “something
strange,” but that he could not tell exactly what was happening. “I
can’t say whether he was punching the officer or whatever,” Mr. Brady
said. “But something was going on in that window, and it didn’t look
right.”
However,
Mr. Johnson’s description of the scuffle is detailed and specific, and
directly contradicts what Officer Wilson has told the authorities.
Mr.
Johnson has said that Officer Wilson was the aggressor, backing up his
vehicle and opening the door, which hit Mr. Johnson and Mr. Brown and
then bounced back.
“He
just reached his arm out the window and grabbed my friend around his
neck, and he was trying to choke my friend,” Mr. Johnson told reporters
after the shooting. “He was trying to get away, and the officer then
reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him inside the car.”
Officer Wilson then drew his weapon, Mr. Johnson said, and threatened to shoot.
“In
the same moment, the first shot went off,” he said. “We looked at him.
He was shot. There was blood coming from him. And we took off running.”
Never, Mr. Johnson said, did Mr. Brown reach for the officer’s weapon.
The
officials briefed on the case said the forensic evidence gathered in
the car lent credence to Officer Wilson’s version of events. According
to his account, he was trying to leave his vehicle when Mr. Brown pushed
him back in. Once inside the S.U.V., the two began to fight, Officer
Wilson told investigators, and he removed his gun from the holster on
his right hip.
Chief
Jon Belmar of the St. Louis County Police Department has said in
interviews that Officer Wilson was “pushed back into the car” by Mr.
Brown and “physically assaulted.” The department is conducting the local
investigation into Mr. Brown’s death.
Spokesmen for the F.B.I. and the Justice Department declined to comment.
In
an interview, Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for the Brown family,
dismissed Officer Wilson’s account of what happened in the S.U.V. that
day.
“What
the police say is not to be taken as gospel,” Mr. Crump said, adding
that Officer Wilson should be indicted by the grand jury and his case
sent to trial. “He can say what he wants to say in front of a jury. They
can listen to all the evidence and the people can have it transparent
so they know that the system works for everybody.”
He
added: “The officer’s going to say whatever he’s going to say to
justify killing an unarmed kid. Right now, they have this secret
proceeding where nobody knows what’s happening and nobody knows what’s
going on. No matter what happened in the car, Michael Brown ran away
from him.”
The
grand jury has been meeting in Clayton, Mo., since Aug. 20. Robert P.
McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor, has said that he expects a
decision on probable cause by mid-November.
