During St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch’s press conference Monday night, during which he explained why a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown, McCulloch made shocking revelations about the testimony of some of the key witnesses.
“The most credible eyewitnesses to the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., said he had charged toward police Officer Darren Wilson just before the final, fatal shots, the St. Louis County prosecutor said Monday night,” the New York Times explained.
That kind of testimony flies in the face of the accounts given by several eyewitnesses who spoke to news organizations immediately after Brown’s shooting in August: that Brown had his hands up in the air, seemingly surrendering, as Wilson continued shooting. Apparently some of those witnesses changed their stories about what happened, or their version of events didn’t match up with the physical evidence.
“The accounts of several other witnesses from the Ferguson neighborhood where Mr. Brown, 18 and unarmed, met his death on Aug. 9—including those who said Mr. Brown was trying to surrender—changed over time or were inconsistent with physical evidence, the prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch, said,” the Times continued.
More than half of the 12 individuals who made up the grand jury supported Wilson’s claims that he fatally shot Brown in self-defense.
“The fact that at least nine members of the 12-member panel could not agree to indict the officer indicates that they accepted the narrative of self-defense put forth by Officer Wilson in his voluntary, four hours of testimony before the grand jury,” the Times reports.
McCulloch said that the “most reliable” eyewitness accounts also supported Wilson’s version of events.
Read more at the New York Times.