FERGUSON, Mo. – The police in Ferguson broke their weeklong silence Friday and identified the officer involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager, as demanded by protesters and the family of the victim.
At the same time, the police released videotape and photographs that they said showed that the victim, Michael Brown, 18, was suspected of taking part in a robbery at a convenience store shortly before the shooting.
Later, however, at an afternoon news conference, the police chief in Ferguson, Thomas Jackson, said the officer involved in the shooting, Darren Wilson, had not been aware that Brown “was a suspect in the case” when he stopped Brown and a companion “because they were walking down the street blocking traffic.”
The manner in which Ferguson officials disclosed the information Friday, which included a police report on the robbery but no new details about last Saturday’s shooting, set off renewed anger among residents and quickly overshadowed the release of the officer’s name.
On Friday morning, Gov. Jay Nixon and Captain Ronald S. Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, an African-American who is heading the security efforts in Ferguson, tried to defuse the frustration of residents, who turned a news conference into a town-hall-style meeting.
After consecutive nights in which the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators and made more than 50 arrests, residents spoke about their fear of the police and peppered Nixon and Johnson with questions related to a broad range of social issues, including the lack of racial diversity among police forces in the area and problems with the quality of local schools.
After a peaceful night Thursday, after several nights of violent confrontations, concerns grew Friday that the release of details about the convenience store robbery would stoke more disorder.
Later, Jackson said he had released material related to the robbery simultaneously with the long-awaited disclosure of the officer’s name because news media organizations had requested both pieces of information.
“We didn’t have good cause not to release it,” Jackson said. “We’ve had this tape for a while.”
Nonetheless, Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for the Brown family, said, “Nothing, based on the facts before us, justifies the execution-style murder by this police officer in broad daylight.”
