Michael Brown was a robbery suspect before he was shot to death, police say
Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) -- Police named the officer involved in the shooting of Ferguson teenager Michael Brown on Friday, then released documents containing a bombshell: The 18-year-old was the "primary suspect" in the robbery of a convenience store moments before he was killed.
Officer Darren Wilson, a
six-year veteran of the department, was responding to that call when he
encountered Brown, police Chief Thomas Jackson told reporters.
According to the
documents, Brown roughly handled a clerk trying to stop him before
walking out of the store with a box of Swisher Sweets cigars.
The unidentified police
officer who wrote the incident report on the robbery said he identified
Brown by comparing surveillance images of the incident to the body of
the slain teen.
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The claim immediately met
with skepticism among some in the community, who have accused Ferguson
police of attempting a cover-up to protect the officer.
One resident interviewed by CNN said police are "tarnishing this young man's name."
"Anyone could walk in the
store and they could get surveillance and take a picture," the woman
said. "I don't see that he's robbing the store. I just see a picture of a
young man."
On Twitter, community members and activists expressed disappointment and outrage.
"How can they not release info on the shooting but link #MikeBrown to robbery. Shame on them," @NafisMWhite tweeted.
The release of Wilson's
name satisfied a key demand of protesters and critics of the handling of
the case by the suburban St. Louis police department and St. Louis
County investigators handling the probe.
But, especially in light
of the robbery allegations, the release of Wilson's name is unlikely to
quell protests in the city and elsewhere over the death of an unarmed
African-American man at the hands of a police officer.
A key complaint of protesters has been that witnesses say the officer shot Brown as he stood with his hands in the air.
Police have said the shooting occurred during a struggle for the officer's gun.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon,
who had earlier put the State Highway Patrol in charge of protest
security after a series of tense clashes between local police and
protesters, applauded the release of the new details.
"I'm pleased that the
people of Ferguson and the region began to get some long-overdue
information today, and I will continue to call for openness and
transparency as the parallel investigations into this tragedy proceed to
their necessary conclusions," he said in a statement.
"For the sake of the
family, the citizens of Ferguson and the entire region, it is vital that
the investigations into the shooting death of Michael Brown move
forward in a thorough, open and transparent manner to ensure that trust
is restored and justice is done," he said.
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According to a timeline
offered by Jackson, Wilson encountered Brown 10 minutes after the report
of a robbery at a nearby convenience store.
According to police
documents, video surveillance images from the store show a man said to
be Brown manhandling a store employee, towering over him and "appearing
to intimidate him" before walking out with the box of cigars.
Neither Jackson nor the documents elaborated on what happened when Wilson and Brown met up on the street.
Police have previously
said that Brown and the officer wrestled while the officer was still in
his cruiser, and that Brown was trying to get the officer's weapon.
Witnesses have told CNN
that the two did tussle at the cruiser window, but it didn't look like
Brown was trying to get at the officer.
"It looked as if Michael was pushing off and the cop was trying to pull him in," Tiffany Mitchell told CNN on Wednesday night.
Neither Mitchell nor co-worker Piaget Crenshaw say they saw Brown enter the vehicle.
Instead, a shot went off, then the teen broke free, and the officer got out of the vehicle in pursuit, the women said.
"I saw the police chase him ... down the street and shoot him down," Crenshaw said. Brown ran about 20 feet.
A new tone
Protests over Brown's killing were peaceful Thursday night after several days of tense encounters between protesters and police.
On Wednesday, police,
backed by armored personnel carriers, fired tear gas and rubber bullets
at protesters in a widely criticized effort at crowd control.
"Last night was a great night, a great night," Capt. Ron Johnson said Friday. There were no arrests, he said.
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He promised to do his part to keep the calm, using his now signature smile and hugs for protesters.
"In our anger, we need to make sure we don't burn down our own house," he said.
Nixon and President
Barack Obama have called for peace from all sides and respect for the
rights of protesters and the press. Police briefly detained two
reporters Wednesday and Al Jazeera America said police fired tear gas
and rubber bullets at their camera position.
"There is never an
excuse for violence against police or for those who would use this
tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting," Obama said Thursday.
"There is also no excuse for police to use excessive force against
peaceful protests or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising
their First Amendment rights."
Hundreds gathered Thursday in Los Angeles and New York to demand justice for Brown.
The Los Angeles protests
included commemoration for Ezell Ford, an African-American youth
recently killed there. In New York, police formed a line to halt the
march, CNN affiliate WABC reported.
They told the crowd to disperse and arrested a few people.
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