Dear Owners and Editor of the DDD:
The front page of the February 10, 2022, DDD contained the following misinformation: “Michael Brown, a historian and scholar who became a famous activist, was shot dead on Ferguson’s streets in 2014 for promoting the flag’s [Pan-African flag] popularity.” Michael Brown did graduate from high school in a “special program” so he may be considered a scholar. It remains impossible to substantiate his being a historian or a famous activist. It is also impossible to substantiate that Brown was shot for promoting the popularity of the Pan-African flag. Some still believe that Brown was shot unjustly in spite of the following from: “The Shooting of Michael Brown,” Wikipedia:
“A grand jury was called and given extensive evidence from Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecutor. On November 24, 2014, McCulloch announced the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson.[11] In March 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice reported the conclusion of its own investigation and cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. It found forensic evidence supported Wilson’s account, and that witnesses who corroborated the officer’s account were credible. Witnesses who had incriminated him were found to be not credible, with some admitting they had not directly seen the events.[12][13] The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.[14][15]
A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder. In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime.[16]
Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996[17] – August 9, 2014) graduated from Normandy High School in St. Louis County eight days before his death, completing an alternative education program.[18] At the time of his death, he was 18 years old, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall, and weighed 292 lb (132 kg).[9] He was an amateur rap musician who posted his songs on the popular music-sharing site SoundCloud under the handle “Big’Mike.”[19] He was two days from starting a training program for heating and air conditioning repair at Vatterott College technical school.[20]
On March 4, 2015, the federal investigation cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. The investigation concluded there was no evidence upon which prosecutors could rely to disprove Wilson’s asserted belief that he feared for his safety, that witnesses who contradicted Wilson were not credible, that forensic evidence and credible witnesses corroborated Wilson’s account, and that the facts did not support the filing of criminal charges against Wilson.[13][51][52] Credible witnesses did not support accounts that Brown had his hands up in surrender. He was not shot in the back. Forensic evidence showed he was moving toward Wilson. Numerous witnesses were found to have given accounts of actions they were unable to see from their vantage points, or to be recounting others’ accounts.[13][51][52]
2020: New prosecutor
A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 secretly reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder.[53][54] In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime;[55] Bell said he didn’t “have the evidence to ethically bring a charge against Darren Wilson.”[56]
Grand jury hearing
The grand jury was made up of members who had been impaneled in May 2014 for a regularly scheduled term, to hear all cases put forward by the prosecuting attorney’s office. There were three black (one man and two women) and nine white members (six men and three women), an ethnic breakdown that roughly reflects the racial makeup of St. Louis County,[57] which is about 30% black, and 70% white.[58] On August 20, 2014, the grand jury started hearing evidence in the case State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson, in order to decide whether a crime was committed and if there was probable cause to believe Wilson committed it.[59]
There was intense interest focused on the grand jury. Robert P. McCulloch, the elected prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, was in charge of the prosecution but did not participate in the direct handling of the grand jury hearing.[60][61][62] It was handled by two Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys of McCulloch’s office: Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley.[61] McCulloch announced an unusual process: the grand jury would hear all the evidence, the proceedings would be transcribed, and the materials would be made public if the grand jury did not indict.[63]
The grand jury took 25 days, over the span of three months, to hear more than 5,000 pages of testimony from 60 witnesses and then deliberate on whether or not to indict Wilson.[63][64] Most grand juries complete their work in a matter of days.[63] The grand jury was not sequestered during the process.[65]
On the night of November 24, Prosecutor McCulloch reported in a 20-minute press conference that the grand jury had reached a decision in the case and would not indict Wilson.”
The importance of responsible journalism is something we all understand. DDD editors and owners, I implore you to do better “fact checking.” A local newspaper is valuable to our community.
Thank you.
Leah Fortner
Kennett, MO