On a summer afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, an encounter between 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr., a Black male, and a white police officer, Darren Wilson, tragically concluded with Brown's death. The events that transpired in a matter of minutes would ignite a national conversation about race and policing. Brown, who had recently graduated from high school, was walking with a friend, Dorian Johnson, in the middle of a street when they were approached by Officer Wilson.
An altercation ensued between Officer Wilson and Brown, beginning at the officer's vehicle and spilling onto the street.
Accounts of the confrontation vary significantly. Officer Wilson stated that Brown assaulted him in his police vehicle and attempted to take his service weapon, prompting him to fire. Wilson testified that after a brief foot pursuit, Brown turned and charged at him, leading him to fire the fatal shots in self-defense. In contrast, Johnson and some other witnesses claimed that Wilson was the aggressor, grabbing Brown by the neck. Some initial witness accounts also reported that Brown had his hands raised in surrender when he was shot, a claim that became a rallying cry for protesters but was later disputed by forensic evidence and other witness statements deemed credible by a Department of Justice investigation. In the end, Brown was unarmed and had been shot at least six times, with all the bullets entering from the front of his body.
The shooting of Michael Brown Jr. did not lead to an arrest or conviction of the officer involved. A St. Louis County grand jury was convened to consider charges against Darren Wilson. After hearing testimony from approximately 60 witnesses, the grand jury chose not to indict Wilson. In addition to the local investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted its own civil rights investigation into the shooting. The federal investigation concluded that there was no evidence to disprove Officer Wilson's belief that he feared for his safety and that the evidence did not support federal civil rights charges against him. The Department of Justice also released a detailed report explaining its findings. Following the grand jury's decision, Darren Wilson was not arrested or prosecuted for the death of Michael Brown Jr.
