Darren Wilson resigns from Ferguson police on Saturday

Nov 29, 2014
According to his attorney Neil Bruntrager on Saturday, Darren Wilson has decided to step down as a law enforcement officer "of his own free will" after the Ferguson police said they had received threats of violence if he was to remain within the department. 

The resignation is "effective immediately", said Bruntrager. Wilson has been on paid administrative leave since the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug 9.

"I'm not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me," said Wilson in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He had been with the department for six years.

The shooting occurred in broad daylight in the middle of a street, and some witnesses have said Brown had his hands up when he was shot. According to the testimony he gave to a grand jury, Wilson said Brown hit him and then reached for his gun before he opened fire.

The unarmed 18-year-old's body lay in the street for more than four hours as police investigated the shooting. Protests began shortly thereafter and many people were injured by rubber bullets and tear gas used by riot police in the tense several days following the incident. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called in the National Guard for assistance.

The announcement that Wilson would not be indicted on any charges came Monday, following the more than three month long investigation by a grand jury. Protests sprung up around the world in solidarity with Ferguson, where several commercial buildings and a police cruiser were engulfed in flames after being ignited by angered citizens.

The Justice Department is conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate investigation of police department practices.

Livestreaming Ferguson with Heather Demian, Bassem's phone stolen during protest

Bassem's livefeed was interrupted when his phone was stolen, here is another livestream from independent journalist Heather Demian.

There has been property damage throughout Ferguson, a County Police car, and a warehouse have been set on fire. Gunshots are heard throughout the city. Police have been using tear gas and rubber bullets to try to subdue the crowds.

Watch here via USTREAM

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Livestreaming Ferguson after Darren Wilson cleared of wrongdoing

Officer Darren Wilson has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the August shooting of Michael Brown. On the streets of Ferguson, there is civil unrest.

Watch the livestream of the militarized police since the decision was announced from Bassem Masri:

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

No indictment in Ferguson case

FERGUSON, Mo. -- A white police officer will not face charges for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager in a case that set off violent protests and racial unrest throughout the nation, an attorney close to the case said Monday night.

A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson, 28, for firing six shots in an August confrontation that killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the family. The decision had been long awaited and followed rioting that resembled war-zone news footage in this predominantly black suburb of St. Louis.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, called for calm after calling up National Guard troops to stand by in case of unrest. Speaking before the decision was announced, he urged that "regardless of the decision, people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restraint.''

Crowds gathered around the Ferguson police headquarters in anticipation of the announcement at the courthouse in Clayton, Mo., another St. Louis suburb.

The 12-person grand jury had been considering whether probable cause existed to bring charges against Wilson, 28, the white officer who fatally shot Brown, an 18-year-old black man, after their Aug. 9 confrontation. The shooting inflamed tensions in a largely minority community that is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force.

Brown's lifeless and bleeding body lay for more than four hours in a Ferguson residential street after the shooting, prompting dismay and anger as a crowd gathered. Protests turned into rioting and looting the following night, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas, triggering a nationwide debate over police tactics.

The 12-person grand jury, including nine whites and three African Americans, had been meeting in secret for months, hearing evidence and weighing whether Wilson's should face charges that could have ranged from involuntary manslaughter to murder.

Brown's family joined thousands of protesters to demand Wilson's arrest. As anger at official inaction grew following Brown's death, protesters clashed with police, who began patrolling the streets with military-grade weapons and armored vehicles.

Wilson has been on paid leave and largely invisible since the shooting.

While the grand jury met in secret to hear evidence in the case, two starkly different versions of the events leading to the shooting emerged in media accounts.

Police have said a scuffle broke out after Wilson asked Brown and a friend to move out of the street. Wilson told investigators he shot Brown only after the teenager reached for the officer's gun. Some witnesses

said Brown had run away from Wilson, then turned and raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender before he was shot in the head and chest.

Paul Morris (center front) boards up his store in Ferguson
Paul Morris (center front) boards up his store in Ferguson on Nov. 24.(Photo: Nick Oza, USA TODAY)
The unusual timing of the grand jury's announcement, after darkness had fallen, was a decision of prosecutors, Nixon said.

He said several local churches would provide shelter, safe haven and medical care in the event of unrest.

As officials called for peace, security preparations were beefed up around the courthouse and at other locations including the Ferguson police headquarters. Barricades were erected and Missouri state troopers were present with rifles, 3-foot batons, riot shields and other equipment. Crowds of protesters waving signs and chanting spilled into streets near the police offices.

"This is not the time to turn on each other; it is a time to turn to each other,'' said St. Louis County Executive Charley Dooley. "We are one community,'' he said.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay acknowledged the case "has deeply divided us'' but said "turning violent or damaging property will not be tolerated.''

"The world will be watching us,'' Slay said.

Anthony Gray, a lawyer for the Brown family, said they were informed the announcement by the county prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, was imminent.

Police have said Brown struggled with Wilson inside his police car, then reached for Wilson's weapon. Brown's family and some witnesses say Wilson killed Brown as he raised his hands in surrender.

The death of Brown, 18, touched off weeks of protests, and the decision by the grand jury on whether to bring charges prompted extraordinary precautions by law enforcement and the community. The Ferguson school district canceled Tuesday classes.

Watch Livestream from Bassem Masri in Ferguson awaiting decision in Michael Brown case

Livestreaming from in front of the courthouse in Ferguson, MI. Bassem Masri has become a prominent citizen journalist in Ferguson after his multiple confrontations with CNN over what he views as biased coverage from the cable news network.

Watch the livestream below via USTREAM:



Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

New audio released of Officer Darren Wilson during fatal Michael Brown shooting, surveillance video from police station before and after Wilson goes to hospital

Recently released and posted by stltoday.com, SOME of the audio between Officer Darren Wilson and dispatch during August 9 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson.

The encounter was brief and you can hear it via Soundcloud, below:




From stltoday.com >>

"At 11:29 a.m. on Aug. 9, a dispatcher asked Wilson to help other officers search for a man who had reportedly threatened to kill a woman. At 11:47 a.m., Wilson said he would respond to a call for a 2-month-old with breathing problems. Wilson drove his police SUV from the west side of West Florissant Avenue to Glenark Drive, east of Canfield Drive and Copper Creek Court, where the fatal encounter would soon occur.

At 11:53 a.m., a dispatcher reported a “stealing in progress” at the Ferguson Market. The 911 operator was still talking to the caller in the background. In a second broadcast, 19 seconds later, the dispatcher says the suspect is a black male in a white T-shirt running toward QuikTrip, and had stolen a box of Swisher cigars.

About four minutes later, there’s more detail: the suspect is wearing a red Cardinals hat, a white T-shirt, yellow socks and khaki shorts, and is accompanied by another man.

At noon, Wilson reports that he’s back in service from the sick-baby call. He then asks the officers searching for the thieves — units 25 and 22 — if they need him. Seven seconds later, an unidentified officer broadcasts that the suspects had disappeared.

At 12:02 p.m., Wilson says, “21. Put me on Canfield with two. And send me another car.” His call triggered at least two officers to head his way, including one who said he was close to Wilson.

Sources have told the Post-Dispatch that Wilson has told authorities that before the radio call he had stopped to tell Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, 22, to quit walking down the middle of the street. They kept walking, and he then realized that Brown matched the description of the suspect in the stealing call.

Wilson then asked dispatch for backup and backed up his SUV next to Brown and Johnson.

Wilson said Brown attacked him, sources said, and that they struggled over the officer’s gun before Wilson was able to fire twice, hitting Brown once. Brown ran away.

Wilson has told authorities that he called, “Shots fired, send all cars,” on his radio, but during the struggle his radio had been jarred and the channel changed.

The Post-Dispatch reviewed radio calls made during that period on all St. Louis County police channels, the fire channel used by Ferguson and other channels publicly archived online and could not locate the call. At least one channel on the Ferguson police radio is “receive-only,” meaning that the call may not have been broadcast.

After the call, Wilson pursued Brown on foot.

According to sources, Wilson has said that Brown turned and charged, and that Wilson then fired once, paused when Brown appeared to flinch and fired again, multiple times. He said he then radioed for an ambulance.

Witnesses’ accounts vary widely. Most saw only part of the encounter. Johnson said that Wilson grabbed Brown by the throat, and, later, tried to pull him into the SUV. Johnson also said that Wilson’s fatal shot came after Brown turned around and was getting to the ground with his hands in the air.

Other witnesses have said that Brown stood still or walked, staggered, stumbled or fell toward Wilson before he was killed. Some witnesses said Brown’s hands were up; others said they were not.
HELP ARRIVES

Forty-one seconds after Wilson’s call, unit 25 reported that he was about to arrive at Wilson’s location, saying he was “going out on Canfield” and accompanied by the sound of his racing engine.

Forty-eight seconds later, another officer had arrived or was about to, announcing, “22’s out.”

At 12:03 p.m., an eyewitness to the shooting Tweeted:

I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMFG
— Thee$avageEP (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014

If his smartphone’s clock, or Twitter’s, agreed with the clock on dispatch records, Brown was killed less than 61 seconds after the dispatcher acknowledged that Wilson had stopped two men.

At one minute, 13 seconds after Wilson’s call, an unidentified officer has arrived and asks, “Where’s the other one?” referring to Johnson.

Eleven seconds later, there’s a brief burst of static and an unintelligible bit of speech. A dispatcher responds, “10-4 on Canfield.”

Twenty seconds later, unit 25 called in to ask if the dispatcher could send a supervisor to Canfield and Copper Creek Court.

At 12:05, a dispatcher called for an ambulance, erroneously reporting that someone had been hit with a Taser.

By 12:07 p.m., a woman wailed in the background as an officer called over his radio: “Get us several more units over here. There’s gonna be a problem.”


Also released was surveillance video of Wilson leaving the police station for the hospital:




And coming back to the station: