The grand jury had five charges from which they could have chosen but declined to indict Wilson in all of them. In his announcement of the decision, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said that the jury came to what they saw was an appropriate verdict given they were “the only ones who have heard all the evidence.”
“The physical and scientific evidence examined by the grand jury, combined with the witness statements, supported and substantiated by that physical evidence, tells the accurate and tragic story of what happened,” McCulloch told reporters.
Demonstrators began to gather outside the Ferguson police department ahead of the announcement.
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) November 25, 2014
McCulloch went on to blame the media for spreading false testimony, such as witness accounts that Brown had not charged towards Wilson before the officer made the fatal shots.
“The most significant challenge encountered in this investigation has been the 24-hour news cycle and its insatiable appetite for something, for anything to talk about, following closely behind with the non-stop rumors on social media,” McCulloch said.
Almost immediately following McCulloch’s statements, violence erupted in Ferguson with protesters engaged in a standoff with police and police attempting to disperse them, allegedly with smoke grenades before switching to tear gas.
— AboveTopSecret (@AboveTopSecret) November 25, 2014
In some areas, protesters remained peaceful while violence broke out in others and SWAT united were called in. During the melee, multiple police cars were torched, several local business were set ablaze and various stores were ransacked.
— RT America (@RT_America) November 25, 2014
Through their attorney, the family of Michael Brown released a statement in which they said they were “profoundly disappointed” that Wilson would not “face the consequence of his actions.”
However, they also appealed for calm saying, “answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.”
— Scott Cohn (@ScottCohnTV) November 25, 2014
As the situation intensified shortly after McCulloch’s announcement, President Barack Obama gave an address in which he also appealed for calm.
“First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law,” Obama said. “And so, we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make.”
Obama said that the nation had come a long way in race relations in the last several decades but “there are still problems and communities of color aren’t just making these problems up.”
“We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation,” he said. “The fact is in too many parts of this country a deep distrust exists between law enforcement and communities of color. Some of this is the result of the legacy of racial discrimination in this country. And this is tragic because nobody needs good policing more than poor communities with higher crime rates.”
Over the course of the night, several buildings remained on fire as firefighters were concerned about sporadic gunshots. Rallies also broke out around the country with protests in Oakland, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago.
— NewsBreaker (@NewsBreaker) November 25, 2014
There are different accounts of what had actually happened on August 9. Some say Brown held his hands up and attempted to surrender before the police officer shot him. Others believe there was a fight between them, and Wilson acted in self defense.
Wilson is reportedly in the final stages of talks to resign from the police department. He maintains he did not act out of order, and that his resignation would be to ease tensions and protect his fellow officers.
