Witness adds new perspective to Ferguson Shooting

One Canfield resident — who said he saw the killing of Brown from start to finish and talked to the grand jury recently — has given the Post-Dispatch an account with some key differences from previous public statements from other witnesses.

Among the recollections of the witness, who agreed to an interview on the condition that his name not be used, were:

After an initial scuffle in the car, the officer did not fire until Brown turned back toward him.
Brown put his arms out to his sides but never raised his hands high.
Brown staggered toward Wilson despite commands to stop.
The two were about 20 to 25 feet apart when the last shots were fired.
He would not detail what he had told the grand jury but said the members seemed fair and asked a lot of questions.

Witness adds new perspective to Ferguson Shooting

This changes the story 180 degrees. Just shows that it takes time for the full story to emerge.

OOOOUUUUUU BOY !!!

Sounds like no indictment !!!

Now What ?

a reply to: xuenchen

How does being 20 feet away with his arms out to his side and staggering forward push you to say no indictment?
And haven't you been saying we should wait for the grand jury?
Sounds like you just made up your mind so we shouldn't hear that anymore?

The witness remains anonymous huh?

a reply to: feldercarb

This whole situation was handled poorly from the get go....

But this is a great example why people should not rush to judgement until all facts are in
It should have never been turned into a race issue, but it's too late now to undo that

We still have a while yet before the conclusion of the investigation is revealed

Thanks for the update on this....

a reply to: Sremmos80

Oh don't worry what I might think.

I won't be doing any damage.

Somebody else will.

This story will get twisted 16 ways from next Sunday by tomorrow.

The phones are ringing.

The dogs are barking.

originally posted by: Orwells Ghost
The witness remains anonymous huh?

Probably afraid of retaliation, if his account were to help the cop instead of the victim

Too much violence/anger there.....yep, I'd probably want to remain anonymous too

a reply to: feldercarb

i wonder if this anonymous "witness" has had any "anonymous" payments into his bank account recently ?

originally posted by: xuenchen
OOOOUUUUUU BOY !!!

Sounds like no indictment !!!

Now What ?

"NOW WHAT"????

Now the riots start
That is definitely a hostile crowd there, so it wouldn't surprise me

Hopefully nothing will happen and the town can heal

IDK what new perspective this shows, read the whole article, it goes into more detail at the bottom.

The witness goes on to describe brown taking one step and getting shot three times, then put his hands up bent at the elbows and describes brown staggering and trying to keep his balance and then wilson shooting again.

We were thinking Oh my god, oh my god, brother, stop. He was already on his way down when he fired those last shots

What transpired to us, in my eyesight, was murder. Downright murder

a reply to: snarky412

Hopefully nothing will happen and the town can heal

You never heal until you cut out the infection

P

a reply to: xuenchen

Just saying, if you are going to tell everyone to wait until the grand jury comes out in other threads to throw judgement... just seems odd that you are ready to do the same thing here.

originally posted by: Orwells Ghost

The witness remains anonymous huh?

Well from what I've heard... " Snitches get Stitches" in Ferguson.

I'm guessing you didn't get the memo?

Let's break this down:

- Nothing about charging.
- Still puts Michael Brown 20-25 feet away — staggering — when the last shot was fired.
- "Brown put his arms out to his sides but never raised his hands high." "But this witness said Brown never put his hands straight up, but held his elbows straight out from his torso, with palms turned up in a sort of gesture of disbelief." Gee, a gesture of disbelief! What the hell does that look like?
- Didn't say that Michael Brown stopped to taunt Darren Wilson.

The most critical thing is that he's saying that Darren Wilson didn't shoot at him as he was running away.. then again, from the OP's source:

Differences in witness accounts are no surprise to researchers, who even have a name for it: the Rashomon effect. It’s derived from the title of a Japanese movie in which four witnesses’ accounts of a rape and murder differ notably.
“That’s why anyone who wants to put complete faith in his statements is foolish and anyone who wants to completely discount what Dorian Johnson saw, is foolish,” said David Klinger, a University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist. “It is entirely possible that multiple witnesses will recall different things. That’s why it’s critical to wait and see what all the evidence shows.”

It's going to come down to the balance of all of the statements taken as a whole. Strange to see that the Darren Wilson fan club is high-fiving over the account of a single witness out of dozens. I guess nothing anyone else said they saw matters because... errmmm.. confirmation bias?

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: xuenchen

Just saying, if you are going to tell everyone to wait until the grand jury comes out in other threads to throw judgement... just seems odd that you are ready to do the same thing here.

Again.

My opinion and views mean nothing.

The *Perception* by others closer to Ferguson will matter a great deal.

Just saying

a reply to: Bone75

Its funny cause this witness pretty much goes along with what the protesters are saying, that this was murder.
Wouldn't be considered a snitch. Only difference in the story is that there was not shot as brown was running.

If I found out the KKK was backing the guy I was calling a murderer I would remain anonymous too

a reply to: xuenchen

Well if you read the article you would realize that this article pretty much vibes with the perception of the ferguson community.

Just saying

Weird it doesn't quite match the video I saw of numerous witnesses reactions to the event at the time it happened. Funny that

hiphopwired.com...

a reply to: Sremmos80

I disagree. If Officer Wilson did not fire at Michael Brown until Mr. Brown started moving toward him after a scuffle, then the Officer Wilson has reasonable fear. Likewise, even if Michael Brown took one staggering step towards Officer Wilson, that gives Officer Wilson a reasonable fear that Michael Brown will continue to approach.

From your quote

We were thinking Oh my god, oh my god, brother, stop. He was already on his way down when he fired those last shots

Michael Brown need to stop moving forward to stop Officer Wilson from shooting. If Michael Brown was still moving forward just before he started going down, then Officer Wilson would be "justified" in continuing to shoot. Remember everything is happening in a short time frame with lots of adrenaline and anxiety in everybody's systems.

a reply to: feldercarb

So a wounded man can be continually shot for stepping forward because he is a threat for moving. He had no weapon so how is he a threat? By your definition of justified homicide anyone approaching a cop is a threat and should be shot. I guess I should just never go near a cop lest I be perceived as a threat and summarily executed. Judge jury and executioner just for having a badge, it's the american way right? Due process is in the constitution but that document seems as dead as Michael Brown.