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Brown's parents condemn officer's 'insult'

November 26, 2014

Michael Brown's mother says statements made by the white police officer who killed the unarmed black teenager have added "insult after injury." The officer Darren Wilson gave his side of the case in an interview.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Du9c
Protest in Ferguson
Image: Reuters/J. Young

On NBC's "Today," Lesley McSpadden - the mother of Brown, killed by a police officer on August 9 - said an interview broadcast on Tuesday had added "insult after injury" and described his words as "so disrespectful."

In his first televised interview since killing the teenager, Wilson said that he had feared for his life, accusing Brown of starting their confrontation and grabbing at the officer's gun and later rushing toward him.

Wilson said that Brown had resembled an angry "demon" just before he shot him.

"I don't believe a word of it," McSpadden added in an interview with the competing national morning news talk show "This Morning" on CBS.

"He would never do anything like that," she said of her son.

"He would never provoke anyone to do anything to him and he wouldn't do anything to anybody. I don't believe a word of it." She added: "Our son doesn't have a history of violence."

On Monday, a St. Louis grand jury decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Wilson.

Two thousand National Guard troops were deployed Tuesday across the St. Louis area, including in Ferguson - where Brown was shot by Wilson, a member of the mostly white force that polices the mostly black town - as authorities sought to prevent the type of wide-scale rioting, looting and arson seen the previous night.

'It sounds crazy'

Brown's death, the aggressive police response to protests and now the result of the grand jury hearing have stirred racial tensions in Ferguson and across the United States.

His father, Michael Brown Sr., said Wednesday on NBC that he, too, considered the version of the events that the officer had given to be false.

"For one, my son, he respected law enforcement," Brown said on Wednesday. "Two, who in their right mind would rush or charge at a police officer that has his gun drawn? It sounds crazy."

Protest over Ferguson in Emeryville
Protests spread to the Bay Area on the West Coast and straight across the country to New YorkImage: Reuters/E. Nouvelage

In an interview aired on ABC's rival news talk show "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, Wilson said that he had "never wanted to take anybody's life" and felt sorry about killing Brown.

However, the officer, now on administrative leave with pay, added in the interview that he followed his training when he shot the unarmed black teenager.

mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)