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PLAY BY PLAY OF THE MICHAEL BROWN CASE, OFFICER WILSON TESTIMONY & AFTERMATH CHAOS! (PHOTOS)

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UPDATE: 11/26/2014




ORIGINAL STORY:


Most of the country was glued to their TV’s Monday night into Tuesday early morning as ciaos filled the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. After the announcement was made that the jury decided on no indictment for Officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case, the crowds went wild with rage.

Ironically, as President Obama made a live statement for peace, police simultaneously were shooting tear gas at protesters... and that's when things took a turn for the worst.



As the crowds let out rage, some decided to take it out on their own community’s local businesses. Some looted and even put to flames. Reporters were hit with rocks and suffocating from police tear gas as it filled the streets. All while more and more information became available to the viewers and readers of what really happened in that court room.

Before this announcement, we had not heard from Officer Wilson. But now for the first time we hear HIS side of the story, from his own mouth, that led the jurors to come to their decision.

Find out what the town is talking about below…


FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — 

THE CHAOS

Smoke billowed from charred buildings as daylight broke over Ferguson on Tuesday and revealed the fallout from the rage that erupted after the announcement that a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer for killing an unarmed, black 18-year-old in the St. Louis suburb.

Firefighters doused the blackened remains of some businesses Tuesday morning and at least one building was still ablaze. Shattered glass covered the sidewalks in front buildings whose storefront windows had been smashed, but Ferguson's streets were mostly clear.


Monday night's destruction appeared to be much worse than protests after August's shootings, with more than a dozen businesses badly damaged or destroyed. Authorities reported hearing hundreds of gunshots, which for a time prevented fire crews from fighting the flames.




There were 61 arrests in Ferguson overnight, many for burglary and trespassing, St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said. There were 21 arrests in St. Louis, where protesters broke some store windows along South Grand Avenue, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said.

Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County police, said that unless his agency could bring in 10,000 officers, "I don't think we can prevent folks who really are intent on destroying a community."

Ron Johnson, the Missouri State Highway Patrol captain who oversaw Ferguson security during the summer protests, said the community must take some responsibility for the looting that took place Monday night. There were about 25 fires set overnight, and 10 cars burned at a dealership, Ferguson Assistant Fire Chief Steve Fair told local media. A pizza shop, beauty supply store and two auto parts stores were among those burned.









"Those are dreams," Johnson said. "Those are small-business owners, and we've torn those dreams away."

THE DECISION

The grand jury's decision means that Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, will not face any state criminal charges for killing Brown, whose death inflamed deep racial tensions between many black Americans and police.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said the jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 separate days over three months, hearing more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and experts on blood, toxicology and firearms.

"They are the only people that have heard and examined every witness and every piece of evidence," he said, adding that the jurors "poured their hearts and soul into this process."


In the first flash of unrest after the grand jury announcement, Belmar said he told officers to back off, suggesting they handle the situation as if it were a festival or baseball game. But the situation quickly "spun out of control," as protesters looted businesses and set fire to numerous vehicles, including at least two police cars. Officers eventually lobbed tear gas from inside armored vehicles to disperse crowds.

As McCulloch read his statement, Michael Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, sat atop a vehicle listening to a broadcast of the announcement. When she heard the decision, she burst into tears and began screaming before being whisked away by supporters. The crowd with her erupted in anger, converging on the barricade where police in riot gear were standing. They pushed down the barricade and began pelting police with objects, including a bullhorn. Officers stood their ground.

Speaking for nearly 45 minutes, a defensive McCulloch repeatedly cited what he said were inconsistencies and erroneous witness accounts. When asked by a reporter whether any of the accounts amount to perjury, he said, "I think they truly believe that's what they saw, but they didn't."

The prosecutor also was critical of the media, saying "the most significant challenge" for his office was a "24-hour news cycle and an insatiable appetite for something — for anything — to talk about."


McCulloch never mentioned that Brown was unarmed when he was killed.

Brown's family released a statement saying they were "profoundly disappointed" but asked that the public "channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen."

Shortly after the announcement, authorities released more than 1,000 pages of grand jury documents, including Wilson's testimony.




OFFICER WILSON'S TESTIMONY

Up to now, the narrative had largely been a one-sided account about a white officer fatally shooting an unarmed black teen, who some witnesses said was trying to surrender. Wilson has not spoken publicly, and these records offer a first look at the fear he says he felt that day.
Wilson, 28, described Brown as “very aggressive” and was convinced the teen was “gonna kill me.”
“It was just like intense,” the officer said. “I’ve never seen anybody look that, for lack of a better word, crazy.”

Wilson told jurors that he initially encountered Brown and a friend walking in a street and, when he told them to move to a sidewalk, Brown responded with an expletive. Wilson then noticed that Brown had a handful of cigars, "and that's when it clicked for me," he said, referring to a radio report minutes earlier of a robbery at a nearby convenience store.

Wilson said he asked a dispatcher to send additional police, and then backed his vehicle up in front of Brown and his friend. As he tried to open the door, Wilson said Brown slammed it back shut.

“What the (expletive) are you gonna do?” Wilson said Brown told him as he tried to exit his police SUV to talk to the pair.
The officer said the 6-foot-4, 289-pound teen blocked him from opening his driver’s door and “started swinging and punching at me from outside the vehicle.”
Wilson said Brown was “swingin’ wildly” and struck him in excess of 10 times in the face, neck and shoulders.

The officer said he pushed Brown with the door and Brown hit him in the face. Wilson told grand jurors he was thinking: "What do I do not to get beaten inside my car."

"I drew my gun," Wilson told the grand jury. "I said, 'Get back or I'm going to shoot you.'
"He immediately grabs my gun and says, 'You are too much of a pussy to shoot me,'" Wilson told grand jurors. He said Brown grabbed the gun with his right hand, twisted it and "digs it into my hip."

Asked why he felt the need to pull his gun, Wilson told grand jurors he was concerned another punch to his face could "knock me out or worse."

"I felt another one of those punches in my face would knock me out or worse. I mean, it was, he's obviously bigger than I was, and stronger, and the—I've already taken two to the face, and I don't think I would—the third one could be fatal if he hit me right."



The officer said he eventually muscled the barrel toward Brown and fired. Glass and blood flew as the shot went through the car door and grazed Brown’s hand.
“He looked up at me and had the most intense aggressive face,” Wilson told the jurors. “It looks like a demon, that’s how angry he looked.”
When Brown reached back in the SUV, the officer fired a second shot but missed. This time the teen fled down the street.
Wilson gave chase but testified that he didn’t fire while he was running or shoot Brown from behind, as recounted in some witness reports.
“I was yelling at him to stop and get on the ground,” he said.
Wilson told the grand jury that he still doesn’t know why Brown stopped and came back at him.
“His whole reaction to the whole thing was something I’ve never seen,” the officer said. “I’ve never seen that much aggression so quickly from a simple request to just walk on the sidewalk.”
Wilson says he fired four times, striking Brown at least once.
“He’s still coming at me, he hadn’t slowed down,” Wilson told the jurors. “I’m backpedaling pretty good because I know if he reaches me, he’ll kill me.”
Brown was “8 to 10 feet away,” when the officer fired another six shots, striking the teen in the head.
“I saw the last one go into him,” Wilson said. “And then when it went into him, the demeanor on his face went blank, the aggression was gone.”
Witness accounts were conflicted about whether Brown walked, stumbled or charged back toward Wilson before he was fatally wounded, McCulloch said. There were also differing accounts of how or whether Brown's hands were raised. His body fell about 153 feet from Wilson's vehicle.

Thousands of people rallied — mostly peacefully — in other U.S. cities on Monday night, and President Barack Obama appealed for calm and understanding, pleading with both protesters and police to show restraint.


"We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama said. He said it was understandable that some Americans would be angered, but echoed Brown's parents in calling for peaceful protests.

The Justice Department is conducting a separate investigation into possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges, but investigators would need to satisfy a rigorous standard of proof in order to mount a prosecution. The department also has launched a broad probe into the Ferguson Police Department, looking for patterns of discrimination.


Regardless of the outcome of those investigations, Brown's family could also file a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wilson.



CHECK OUT PHOTOS OF OFFICER WILSON'S INJURY BELOW:







Here are just one of the photo memes floating around the internet that can give you an idea why some people have so much rage...


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