Louis Head, the stepfather of Michael Brown, is now the subject of investigation as law enforcement tries to determine whether he intentionally meant to incite the civil unrest that Ferguson, Mo., experienced after a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the teen’s shooting death, CNN reports.
According to CNN, Head’s impassioned yell to “Burn this motherf—ker down” and “Burn this bitch down” after the grand jury announcement is the main focus of the scrutiny. Although no charges have been filed, the authorities are interviewing Head’s acquaintances, as well as those who were with him that fateful November night when Ferguson went up in flames of fury over the failure to indict Wilson.
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said that while police have yet to speak to Head, they have every intention of doing so, according to CNN. Jackson also said that multiple law-enforcement agencies were taking part in the investigation.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder was among voices calling for Head’s arrest, saying that he should be “charged with inciting to riot,” CNN notes.
Benjamin Crump, one of the attorneys representing Brown’s family, acknowledged after the initial outrage that the comments were inappropriate but asked for understanding, saying, “Don’t condemn them for being human.”
On CNN he reiterated that the family did not stand for “people acting on emotion calling for people to do irresponsible things.
“And so we want his family, his mother and father’s message to come across louder than anybody who might be associated with them. … And they can’t control what others do. They can control what they pray for,” Crump added, according to CNN.
Read more at CNN.