Attorneys for the family of an 18-year-old, unarmed black man shot dead by police are urging restraint by both protesters and police once a grand jury decides whether the suburban St. Louis officer who shot him should face charges. Attorneys Anthony Gray and Benjamin Crump held a press conference Thursday outside a county facility, where the grand jury is meeting and Dr. Michael Baden, who performed a private autopsy on the family’s behalf, was testifying.
Michael Brown’s parents, who were in Geneva this week as the U.N. Committee Against Torture heard testimony about U.S. policies, did not attend. Their attorneys echoed Gov. Jay Nixon’s call for protesters to avoid rioting, looting and violence, but faulted him for not also calling on police to exercise restraint.
Police were widely criticised for using armoured vehicles and tear gas to respond to mostly peaceful but occasionally violent protests in the days after Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson shot Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, after telling him to stop walking in the street.
Mr. Wilson told investigators he felt threatened while fighting with Brown from inside a police SUV, where an initial shot was fired, according to information provided to news outlets by people described as familiar with the investigation, but not otherwise identified. Those same accounts said Mr. Wilson told investigators that after Brown fled the vehicle, he turned around in a threatening manner, prompting Wilson to fire the fatal shots. Some witnesses said Brown had his hands up.
Mr. Crump said attorneys would not talk about Mr. Baden’s testimony, except to say he had identified one additional entry wound in Brown’s chest after seeing results of an autopsy by the medical examiner. Mr. Crump did not elaborate.
Mr. Baden had earlier said Brown was >shot at least six times , while the county autopsy determined he was shot six to eight times. A third autopsy conducted for the U.S. Department of Justice has not been released.
Attorney General Eric Holder said Justice Department officials have been working with local officials to make sure the law enforcement response to any protests is appropriate.
Read: >All you need to know about the Ferguson incident
