The man that Michael Brown was walking with before he was fatally shot by police in a St. Louis, Mo. suburb over the weekend has offered his account of the shooting.
Brown, 18, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Mo. on Saturday. In an interview with MSNBC, 22-year-old Dorian Johnson—who is the closest witness to his friend's killing—remains shocked by the day's events. "I saw the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend," Johnson told MSNBC. "Then I saw the fire come out of the barrel."
According to Johnson, he and Brown were walking through a Ferguson street when a police cruiser pulled up to them and an officer instructed them to "Get the f*** on the sidewalk," verbatim. "His exact words were get the f*** on the sidewalk," Johnson affirmed. That's when Johnson said things escalated to the point of no return:
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
Johnson adds that the officer and Brown weren't wrestling, instead saying Brown was trying to avoid a chokehold:
I could see the muscles in his forearm. Mike was trying to get away from being choked. They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went from his throat to now clenched on his shirt. It’s like tug of war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you. I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend. He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more time.
Following the first shot, Johnson said he and Brown began running until a second blast struck Brown in the back. Johnson claims that Brown—with his hands up—yelled "I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!" before the officer fired several more times, killing him.
Johnson's attorney, Freeman Bosley, told MSNBC that local police turned down an opportunity to interview his client. "They don’t want the facts," he said.
The FBI has taken over the investigation into Johnson's death, and the officer who killed him remains on administrative leave.
[via MSNBC]
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