After a night of peaceful demonstrations in Ferguson over the killing of teenager Michael Brown, two pieces of news have emerged this morning. The first is that the Ferguson Police have identified the officer who shot Brown as Darren Wilson, a six year veteran of the force with no history of disciplinary issues.
The second is that a copy of the police report from a nearby robbery has become available, and it details the incident that occurred before Officer Wilson’s confrontation with Brown that led to the teen’s death. While video of the robbery will be released later today, the police report claims that Brown was the prime suspect. (Ed. note: A previous statement implying that video stills confirmed Brown as the suspect in the convenience store robbery has been retracted.)
It’s important to note, however, that the information being circulated only pertains to the robbery. It does nothing to detail the nature of the interaction between Brown and Officer Wilson prior to the shooting, and only answers the question as to why he was confronted at all.
Page from police report pic.twitter.com/xcz6nUKqY2
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 15, 2014
More from report pic.twitter.com/7OyD2fgrI2
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 15, 2014
"Brown is the primary suspect in this incident." - police report
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 15, 2014
Stills from camera pic.twitter.com/FEcmKc3oGr
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 15, 2014
UPDATE: The lawyer of Dorian Johnson, the friend who was with Brown at the convenience store and on the scene when Brown was killed, confirmed after this report went public that Brown did take the cigarillos. "We need to see that tape, my client did tell us and told the FBI that they went into the store. He told FBI that he did take cigarillos, he told that to the DOJ and the St. Louis County Police," Johnson's attorney Freeman Bosley said.
UPDATE 2: Surveillance video allegedly showing Michael Brown in the convenience store has come out:
UPDATE 3: At an afternoon press conference, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said that Brown's incident in the convenience store had nothing to do with him being stopped by Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was not aware that Brown was a suspect of a robbery and stopped him and his friend because "they were walking down the street blocking traffic."
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[via @ryanjreilly]
