On Nov. 24, the St. Louis County prosecutor announced that a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson of criminal wrongdoing in the Murder of 18-year old Mike Brown. The summer that ensued saw hundreds of protests across the nation, bringing about broad questions as to how police officers treat black people, and how they police patrol black communities as a whole. Footage was released by the Ferguson Police Department showing Brown in a shoving match with the store clerk before taking a box of cigarillos, minutes before he was killed. The footage was used in the trial in an effort to "demonize" Mike Brown, which may have contributed to the grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson.
A second video from the same store has surfaced showing Mike Brown entering the premises roughly twelve hours before he was killed, and making an exchange with the clerk. In the video, Brown is seen handing a small bag of weed to the store clerk in exchange for a box of cigarillos. Mr. Brown is then seen walking toward the exit before turning around and walking back and handing the cigarillos back across the counter.
Jason Pollock, a documentary filmmaker, has challenged the police narrative that Mike Brown robbed the store shortly before he was killed. Brown's mother believes that Mike went to the store and bartered the bag of weed for the cigarillos, and only turned back so that the employees could hold the box until he returned for it the next day. But Jay Kanzler, a lawyer for the convenience store, said the new footage is unrelated to Mr. Brown’s later visit to the store.
“There was no transaction,” Mr. Kanzler said. “There was no understanding. No agreement. Those folks didn’t sell him cigarillos for pot. The reason he gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they wanted it back.”
There are still many unanswered questions as it pertains to the tragic killing of Mike Brown, and many believe the death to be a murder; an instance where the statistics support the claim. Despite black people being only 13% of the U.S. population, black people accounted for 37% of unarmed police killings 2015, with unarmed black people being killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015. Do you think the new footage would have made a difference in the indictment of former officer Darren Wilson? Let us know in the comments.
Source: NY Times
