ADVERTISEMENTAll the grand jury materials in the trial that ended with no indictment of Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, have been made public by the prosecutor. As experts point out, this is extremely rare.
His family have vowed to push the case to federal level, to the Justice Department. It will decide whether to charge Wilson with violating Brown’s civil rights.
The police officer finally broke silence in an interview on ABC news, broadcast after the Prosecuting Attorney had announced Wilson would not face criminal charges. He said he was hit in the face before using his weapon for the first time.
Darren Wilson said: “He ignored all the commands and he just kept running. And so after he kept running again, I shot another series of shots and at least one of those hit him because I saw the flinch.”
ABC news host George Stephanopoulos asked Wilson: “Is there anything you could have done differently, that could have prevented that killing from taking place?”
Wilson answered ‘no’.
When pressed, he answered ‘no’ a second time.
Stephanopoulos asked: “And you are absolutely convinced, when you look through your heart and your mind, that if Michael Brown were white this would have gone down in exactly the same way?”
To this, Wilson’s answer was ‘yes’, and when pressed, he confirmed.
“You have a very clean conscience?” asked Stephanopoulos.
Wilson said: “The reason I have a clean conscience is because I know I did my job right.”
The first African American to hold the position of Attorney General is Eric Holder, the head of the US Federal Justice Department, a member of the Cabinet, nominated by President Obama. He took steps in August to present authority with a reassuring tone.
Holder said: “The Department’s investigations will continue to be thorough, continue to be independent and they remain ongoing. They will be conducted rigorously and in a timely manner so that we can move forward as expeditiously as we can to restore trust, to rebuild understanding and to foster cooperation between law enforcement and community members.”
Legal experts have said that, based on what’s known so far, it is unlikely the government will bring federal civil rights charges — unless some shocking new evidence surfaces. Yet they also say it is almost certain that there will be civil lawsuits against Wilson.