In the recently released transcript of Officer Darren Wilson’s testimony to the Grand Jury in the Michael Brown case, one exchange with the prosecutor questioning him has gone largely unreported.
Michael Brown was unarmed, but in this exchange, there is some suggestion that Wilson may have had reason to think otherwise as he claims that Brown reached into his waistband prior to being shot by Wilson.
Here is the exchange:
Wilson: He turns, and when he looked at me, he made like a grunting, like aggravated sound and he starts, he turns and he’s coming back towards me. His first step is coming towards me; he kind of does like a stutter step to start running. When he does that, his left hand goes in a fist and goes to his side, his right one goes under his shirt in his waistband and he starts running at me.
Prosecutor: You say under his shirt?
Wilson: Yes
Prosecutor: Was he wearing a shirt that was longer than his waist band?
Wilson: Yes
Prosecutor: So he goes under his shirt?
Wilson: Yes?
It is an undisputed fact that Brown was unarmed. But,Wilson’s account of Brown’s behavior suggests that the officer may have thought that he was.
This also raises the question as to why the prosecutor did not follow up with questioning as to whether Wilson believed that Brown reaching into his waistband might have led the officer to believe that he was actually carrying a weapon.
While this is all speculation, if Wilson believed that Brown might have been reaching for a weapon, it changes the dynamics of whether Wilson’s use of deadly force was justified.