Wesley Lowery, Washington Post
Posted: Monday, November 17, 2014, 1:08 AM
The St. Louis paper's analysis of the police radio traffic suggests that the audio sheds light on Wilson's interaction with Brown, while the video images - taken by surveillance cameras at Ferguson Police Department headquarters - led the Brown family attorneys to question reports of Wilson's injuries.
Leaving the building
The first video, taken by surveillance cameras at the Ferguson Police Department, shows Wilson leaving the building after the shooting with several other men whom the paper identifies as other officers and his attorney.
The other video shows Wilson and the men returning to the department headquarters. The St. Louis paper reported that Wilson left to go to the hospital and returned two hours later.
The videos - grainy and at times jumpy - are the first confirmed images of Wilson from the night of the shooting. Almost no public images exist of Wilson, whose name was not released for almost a week after the shooting. The officer is on paid leave.
Some of Wilson's supporters have said he was seriously injured in the altercation with Brown. The video released over the weekend shows Wilson moving normally but does not provide a close view of his face.
Attorneys representing Brown's family issued a statement Saturday saying the new video undermines claims from Wilson supporters that the officer was severely beaten by Brown.
Leaked information
Early on "information was leaked from within the police department that Wilson was severely beaten and suffered an orbital eye socket 'blowout,' indicating that Michael Brown somehow deserved to die," said the statement from attorneys Benjamin Crump, Anthony Gray, and Daryl Parks. "From the video released today it would appear the initial descriptions of his injuries were exaggerated."
The account published by the Post-Dispatch also includes new details, compiled through an analysis of police radio traffic, about Wilson's interactions with other officers immediately before and after the shooting.
According to the Post-Dispatch's account, Wilson radioed at noon to ask if officers needed assistance in searching for the suspects of a robbery that occurred at a nearby store.
Whether or not Wilson knew about the robbery - which involved Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson - has been a major point of contention and confusion.
Officials with the Ferguson Police Department and St. Louis County Police Department - which is handling the investigation - did not respond to requests for comment on the Post-Dispatch's report.
The video release and new details of the timeline of the incident comes as most in greater St. Louis anxiously await the grand jury decision on whether to indict Wilson with a crime for the shooting.
Groups of protesters have spent hours planning acts of civil disobedience to be carried out in the event that Wilson is not charged. Top state and police officials, meanwhile, are in the midst of a local media campaign meant to reassure the local public that they are ready to respond to any violence.
0 comments:
Post a Comment