Ferguson Cop Beaten Bloody Before Shooting Brown, Says Police Source
Darren Wilson, the Ferguson cop who shot Michael Brown, was beaten so severely by Brown he had to go to the hospital, according to an anonymous police source. A report about the meeting from ABC News emerged on the day that the grand jury started hearing evidence in the case.
Wilson sustained what the source described as “a serious facial injury” after being beaten in an altercation that ultimately led to Brown being shot six times. ABC characterized the police source as someone who is close to Wilson.
The encounter reportedly left Wilson with a fractured eye bone after the Ferguson cop was allegedly beaten by Brown. Protests over the altercation between the cop and Brown in Ferguson have continued since the shooting.
A St. Louis County Prosecutor, Ed Magee, would not confirm the injury to the Washington Post. However, Magee did tell the Post that prosecutors have not received any medical records for Wilson, though he did confirm that the Ferguson cop was taken to the hospital.
Grand jury proceedings differ from criminal trials in that they allow all kinds of evidence to be presented, including hearsay evidence. That would include reports that the Ferguson cop was beaten before shooting Brown. According to MSNBC, details, reports, or narratives will not be publicly released, including more details about whether the Ferguson cop was possibly beaten.
The nine-member grand jury will simply vote on whether there is a “true bill” or “no true bill” to allow for an indictment. If all nine members do not vote a “true bill,” the Ferguson cop will not be charged. Nobody but the grand jury members are allowed to be present while they deliberate. If there are no charges, the prosecutor’s office would still have the right to re-open the case if more information becomes available.
If the Ferguson cop was beaten, it would damage the narrative that Brown was innocently standing in the middle of the street when he was shot dead.
According to CNN, there are now multiple accounts that there was some kind of a physical struggle between Brown and Wilson, though it is not clear if the cop was beaten. A new witness, Ferguson resident Michael Brady, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper earlier this week that he saw Brown get shot.
He said he saw the unarmed teen fall forward before he was shot several times. But he did not see the Ferguson cop beaten by Brown, nor did he see Brown charge Wilson.
