Shooting of Michael Brown

Darren Dean Wilson (born May 14, 1986, in Fort Worth, Texas) was 6 ft tall and weighed about 210 lb. Wilson's first police job was in the town of Jennings, Missouri, where he began working in 2009.

Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014) graduated from Normandy High School in St. Louis County eight days before his death, completing an alternative education program.

At the time of his death, he was 18 years old, 6 ft tall, and weighed 292 lb. He was an amateur rap musician who posted his songs on the popular music-sharing site SoundCloud under the handle "Big'Mike."

He was two days from starting a training program for heating and air conditioning repair at Vatterott College technical school.

The police force in Jennings was shut down by the town's city council in March 2011.

In October 2011, Wilson began working for the Ferguson Police Department.

In February 2013, Wilson won a commendation from the Ferguson Police Department after he apprehended a suspect who was later charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and resisting arrest.

On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson.

Wilson, a white male Ferguson police officer, said that an altercation ensued when Brown attacked him in his police vehicle for control of Wilson's service pistol.

The struggle continued until the pistol fired.

Johnson said that Wilson initiated a confrontation by grabbing Brown by the neck through Wilson's patrol car window, threatening him and then shooting at him.

At this point, both Wilson and Johnson state that Brown and Johnson fled, with Wilson pursuing Brown shortly thereafter.

Wilson stated that Brown stopped and charged him after a short pursuit.

Johnson contradicted this account, stating that Brown turned around with his hands raised after Wilson shot at his back.

According to Johnson, Wilson then shot Brown multiple times until Brown fell to the ground.

In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets, including twice during the struggle in the car.

Brown was struck six times, all in the front of his body.

This event ignited unrest in Ferguson.

Witnesses to the shooting claimed Brown had his hands up in surrender or said "don't shoot", so protesters later used the slogan "Hands up, don't shoot".

A subsequent FBI investigation said that there was no evidence that Brown had done so.

Peaceful protests and violent riots continued for more than a week in Ferguson; police later established a nightly curfew.

The response of area police agencies in dealing with the protests was strongly criticized by both the media and politicians.

Concerns were raised over insensitivity, tactics, and a militarized response.

Missouri governor Jay Nixon ordered local police organizations to cede much of their authority to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

A grand jury was called and given evidence from Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecutor.

On November 24, 2014, McCulloch announced the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson.

In March 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice reported the conclusion of its own investigation and cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting.

It claimed that Wilson's account was "corroborated by bruising on Wilson's jaw and scratches on his neck, the presence of Brown's DNA on Wilson's collar, shirt and pants, and Wilson's DNA on Brown's palm", and claimed that witnesses who corroborated the officer's account were credible.

The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.

With respect to this job, Wilson said to The New Yorker in 2015, "I'd never been in an area where there was that much poverty."

Surveillance video which was publicly released in the 2017 documentary film Stranger Fruit shows Michael Brown walking into Ferguson Market and Liquor at 1:13 a.m., ten-and-a-half hours before he entered the store for the final time.

The footage shows Brown handing a young clerk a brown package, believed by the filmmaker to be marijuana, and then receiving an unpurchased package of cigarillos from the store.

After the video was rediscovered and made public in 2017, some, including Brown's family, said they believed Brown had left the package there for safekeeping and later returned to retrieve it.

The store owner disputed this through an attorney who dismissed claims that the store traded him "cigarillos for pot."

The lawyer claimed "[t]he reason he [Brown] gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they [the staff] wanted it back."

The store's attorney said the video had been in the hands of Brown's family and law enforcement since the initial investigation, and said the video had been edited to remove the portion where the store clerk returned Brown's package to him.

Following this, on March 13, 2017, unedited footage from the store was released by the St. Louis County prosecutor to try to settle questions.

In 2020, St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell spent five months reviewing the case with an eye to charge Wilson with either manslaughter or murder.

In July, Bell announced Wilson would not be charged.