Ferguson Police Chief
Thomas Jackson -- hours after documents came out labeling the
18-year-old Brown as the "primary suspect" in the store theft -- told
reporters the "robbery does not relate to the initial contact between
the officer and Michael Brown."
So why did Ferguson
police decide to release surveillance video of the convenience-store
incident Friday -- the same day they named, six days after the shooting,
the white police officer who fatally shot the African-American teenager
-- if the two situations are not related?
Jackson said he distributed the store videotape "because the press asked for it," noting he couldn't withhold it indefinitely.
The chief added "we
needed to release that at the same time we needed to release the name of
the officer involved in the shooting," though he didn't elaborate on
why. This week, as days and nights of demonstrations passed without the
officer being identified, pressure mounted on authorities, as did
allegations from some of a coverup.
The flurry of information
Friday added more intrigue to a case that has spurred protests in
Ferguson by many angry at the shooting of Brown, and what they decry as a
heavy-handed response by police afterward.
The decision to come out
with both the police officer's identity and information about the
robbery -- whether or not they had anything to do with each other --
managed to further upset many in the St. Louis suburb.
Brown's family "did not
have any of this information" -- including the store surveillance video
-- until it came out Friday, family lawyer Benjamin Crump told CNN's
Jake Tapper. He accused police on releasing information "in this devious
manner, in a piecemeal fashion" in an attempt to "assassinate (Michael
Brown's) character and try to justify the actions."
"It's so irrelevant, the two have nothing to do with one another," Crump said. "... Where's the report about the murder?"
The man heading security
in Ferguson after the recent unrest -- Missouri State Highway Patrol
Capt. Ron Johnson -- stressed that the robbery and shooting of Brown
"are separate issues" that should not be mixed up together.
Johnson said Friday evening he'd talked to Jackson about other ways to release information and his desire to be included.
"I told him that I think
both of those being released today was not needed and was not the way
that we needed to go," Johnson told CNN. "Today is about taking care of
this incident here, getting to those facts that are there, and Michael
Brown and his family."
Hours earlier, in video captured by CNN affiliate KSDK,
Johnson emphasized authorities have an obligation to be upfront, not to
say "some things and now everybody says, 'what does that mean?'"
"I think if we're going to give answers, we need to not give hints," Johnson said. "We need to say it."
Chief: Police officer involved in shooting 'a gentleman'
Police identified the officer who shot Michael Brown as 28-year-old Darren Wilson
-- a six-year police veteran, including four years with the Ferguson
force. Authorities had refused to name him, citing threats to his
safety.
The fact they have now
done so satisfies a major demand of protesters. But many remain
perturbed that additional details have not come out about Brown's
shooting.
What the police chief
did do on Friday was express "every confidence" in Wilson, who had one
side of his face swollen in his encounter with Brown, according to
authorities.
"He (is) a gentleman ...
a quiet officer," Jackson said. The entire situation is "devastating,
it's absolutely devastating" to Wilson.
Much more information was provided about the reported convenience store robbery.
That includes the
surveillance video, which shows a large African-American man pushing
aside a smaller man who seemingly tries to stop him, then leaving the
store. Crump said the larger man "appears to be" Michael Brown.
Newly released police
documents claim the teenager roughly handled a clerk trying to stop him
before walking out of the store with the box of Swisher Sweets.
The cost for the box of cigars, according to the documents: $48.99.
Jackson, the Ferguson police chief, told CNN's Don Lemon that Wilson confronted Brown for being in the road, not the robbery.
"I guess that is when he
might have seen ... evidence and connected it" to the robbery, Jackson
said -- without explicitly tying the two incidents together himself.
Continued anger on streets of Ferguson, social media
A key complaint of
protesters has been -- while police have said the shooting occurred
during a struggle for the officer's gun -- witnesses say the officer
shot Brown as the teenager stood with his hands in the air.
Tiffany Mitchell, who
saw what happened, told CNN that "it looked as if Michael was pushing
off and the cop was trying to pull him in." Instead, a shot went off,
the teen broke free, and the officer got out of the vehicle and ran
about 20 feet in pursuit, she and co-worker Piaget Crenshaw said.
Another man, Dorian Johnson, said he was with Brown at the time of the shooting and that police shot Brown without provocation.
"We wasn't committing any crime, bringing no harm to nobody, but my friend was murdered in cold blood," he told CNN affiliate KMOV.
Jackson confirmed to reporters Friday that Johnson, at least, "did not commit a crime and was not complicit in a crime."
The information released
Friday seems unlikely to quell the anger in the Missouri city and
elsewhere -- including on Twitter, where many 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.
Yet there were also some who said the robbery is not necessarily irrelevant to what happened next.
"A robbery doesn't
justify shooting Mike Brown, but it definitely changes your perspective
on his mindset at the time of police encounter," read one post from
@OneTermTooMany.
'Police chiefs are watching'
The full, complicated
story has stirred an intense, nationwide discussion on race in the
United States, and on the shooting itself as well as the response to
demonstrators afterward. Accusers accused some protesters of violence
and looting, while many on the other side have ripped what they call an
over-the-top, militarized police response.
So what's next?
There's still the
possibility that action -- including, potentially, criminal charges --
could be taken against Officer Wilson. Then there's the potential for
political fall-out affecting Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon or Ferguson's
police chief.
And there's still a lot
of anger about the shooting and the ensuing police response, and there
are many angry people on the streets. A major rally is set for Sunday to
demand action by authorities.
Earlier this week, these
demonstrations devolved into violence. Authorities accused some
protesters of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. Witnesses claimed,
and video showed, police using tear gas, rubber bullets and armored
equipment.
Things calmed
significantly on Thursday, which was the day the state highway patrol
took over security. Rather than confront protesters, Johnson
figuratively and literally has embraced them.
Talking later to CNN,
the highway patrol captain said he thinks this whole ordeal -- as it
relates to race relations between communities and law enforcement, as
well as how authorities respond to protests -- "will create change
throughout our nation." For example, he expects there will be talk about
diversity training and tactics.
"This is all over the
world, and I think police chiefs are watching -- deciding what they need
to do and what they need to do better," he said.
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