Justice Department-Sponsored Autopsy Calls Michael Brown’s Death a ‘Homicide’ (Video)
On Tuesday, four months after Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., news broke that the Justice Department had released the results of its own autopsy.
A makeshift memorial is pictured in this photo taken on Aug. 30 near where black teenager Michael Brown was shot to death by police in Ferguson, Mo. Shutterstock
On Tuesday, four months after Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., news broke that the Justice Department had released the results of its own autopsy.
The report issued by the DOJ substantiates the findings of other prior investigations, according to NBC News:
The findings of the Justice Department post-mortem released on Monday echoed those of two previous autopsies carried out by St. Louis County’s medical examiner and a private examiner hired by the Brown family. It found that Brown — who was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9 — suffered “severe injuries of the skull, brain and right chest” and appeared to have been shot in the hand at close range. “The manner of death is homicide,” the Justice Department’s medical examiner ruled.
In better news related to this case, 22-year-old Dorian Johnson, who was with his friend Michael Brown when the unarmed 18-year-old was killed by Wilson, has a new job. Watch Johnson’s account of what happened on Aug. 9 below (via NBC News):
–Posted by Kasia Anderson
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
To combat oligarchy, we must strengthen progressive populist movements inside and outside of electoral arenas.
In the next few weeks, separate teams of doctors will issue autopsy reports about Michael Brown, the unarmed African-American shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. If history is any guide, they will differ, perhaps significantly, on how to interpret the gunshot wounds on his body.
As Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered National Guard troops into Ferguson, a preliminary autopsy revealed that police shot teen Michael Brown six times. Amnesty International ordered a delegation to monitor developments, and a local pastor called for the police chief's resignation after department leaks muddied clarity of the lead-up to the teen's death.
Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died a day after he was beaten and dragged by nine guards while in the custody of a juvenile boot camp in Florida The medical examiner initially ruled that Martin died of natural causes, but (h/t: Largest Minority).