Michael Brown shooting: Ferguson officer Darren Wilson was ‘doing his job’ says growing band of supporters

Darren Wilson has received death threats since shooting the 18-year-old, but locals are speaking out on his behalf

ferguson, missouri

On the streets of Ferguson, a community racked by racial unrest, police officer Darren Wilson is vilified by protesters for shooting and killing an unarmed black man.

Away from the front lines, however, a growing band of supporters is starting to speak up for the white policeman, saying he is being unjustly attacked for doing his job.

Mr Wilson, who is under investigation for shooting 18?year-old Michael Brown on 9 August, has been in hiding since the incident brought to a boil simmering racial tension in the St Louis suburb. Police have released little information about the 28-year-old officer whose own police chief described him as a gentle and quiet man.

A grand jury has begun hearing evidence to determine whether he should be charged in Mr Brown’s death. A spokesman for the St Louis county prosecutor, Bob McCulloch, said there was no timeline for the process, but it could take weeks.

The US Attorney General, Eric Holder, has sought to build confidence in the investigation into the death of Mr Brown. Mr Holder, who is black, said on Wednesday he understands why many black Americans do not trust the police and that he had experienced the same frustrations. He described being stopped twice on the New Jersey Turnpike and accused of speeding. Police searched his car, looking through the boot and under the seats.

“I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me,” he said during a meeting with about 50 community leaders at the St Louis Community College.

 

Tensions appeared to have eased in Ferguson, enough at least for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to order the National Guard to begin withdrawing from the town.

Meanwhile, at Barney’s Sports Bar in St Louis, where a weekend rally in support of Mr Wilson is planned, patrons at the establishment, owned by a police officer, said they worried that he was not being given the benefit of the doubt.

“I think he’s innocent until proven guilty. In fact, I know. That’s the constitution,” Paul Beauregard Morton, who works in financial services, said as he sat at the bar. “I’m going to wait until the facts come out. That’s what everyone should be doing.”

For many protesters in Ferguson, a mostly black suburb, Mr Wilson is emblematic of a predominantly white police force that they say targets blacks, treating them like second-class citizens. Near the spot where Mr Brown was killed, a man held a placard on Wednesday bearing pictures of Mr Wilson and reading: “We demand justice.” But at the “I Support Officer Wilson” Facebook site, which had more than 50,000 “likes” this week, most people posting comments saw Mr Wilson as being caught in a risky situation where he was acting in a professional manner.

One Facebook user, Kevin Chicwak, wrote that Mr Wilson and the Ferguson Police Department were being found guilty without due process “by the liberal media”. Mr Chicwak wrote: “My family and I stand by them. Keep the faith.” But the site has also been riddled with racially charged comments, prompting the organisers to warn that anything that crossed the line into hate speech would be deleted.

The New Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan said on its website it planned a fundraiser in Sullivan, Missouri, over the weekend and had members going to areas near Ferguson to guard white businesses.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 people have contributed about $85,000 (£51,000) to a site on gofundme.com, offering financial support to Mr Wilson. He has faced death threats and has not spoken publicly about why he fired multiple shots at the teenager after a confrontation in the street near his squad car.

People describing themselves as friends of Mr Wilson have tried to present a different narrative to deflect blame from the officer on television and radio. “He’s a really quiet guy,” one friend, who asked not to be named, told ABC News. “He’s just really well-mannered. He’s very respectful.”

Reuters

News
Pandora Blake says the moves are an attack on a harmless
industry
newsIt’s not as if we’re hurting anyone (else), say practitioners
Arts and Entertainment
Visitors look at the sculpture of the Greek river god Ilissos at the State Hermitage Museum
elgin marbles
Sport
football
News
Ed Sheeran is the most listened-to act in the world
people
PROMOTED VIDEO
Have you tried new the Independent Digital Edition apps?
News
ebooksNow available in paperback
Latest stories from i100
Have you tried new the Independent Digital Edition apps?
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

iJobs Job Widget
iJobs General

h2 Recruit Ltd: Business Development Manager - HR Consultancy - £65,000 OTE

£35000 - £40000 per annum + £65,000 OTE: h2 Recruit Ltd: London, Birmingham, M...

Recruitment Genius: Sales Courier - OTE £30,000

£15000 - £30000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: A great opportunity to work in ...

h2 Recruit Ltd: Sales Manager - Political Market Research - £55,000 OTE

£35000 - £55000 per annum + benefits: h2 Recruit Ltd: A global, market leading...

h2 Recruit Ltd: Business Development Manager-Accounting Software-£80,000 OTE

£50000 per annum + OTE £80,000 + pesnion + health-care: h2 Recruit Ltd: A well...

Day In a Page

Al-Jazeera journalists imprisoned by Egypt to ‘teach Qatar a lesson’ for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood

Al-Jazeera journalists imprisoned by Egypt to ‘teach Qatar a lesson’

Mohamed Fahmy, one of three reporters held in a Cairo prison, has written to Robert Fisk to outline his grievances against his employers
A voyage through hell: One asylum seeker's epic journey from Eritrea to a new life in Europe

An asylum seeker's voyage through hell

Zekarias Kebraeb has written an extraordinary book describing his epic journey from Eritrea to Europe
Homeless Veterans appeal: Help the ex-service personnel to whom we all owe so much

Help the ex-service personnel to whom we all owe so much

Our Christmas appeal supports the home that houses veterans. Evgeny Lebedev met two of them
Orion 'Mars ship': The most ambitious venture in Nasa's history offers the best chance of rekindling national excitement over space exploration

Orion 'Mars ship'

The most ambitious venture in Nasa's history offers the best chance of rekindling national excitement over space exploration, says Rupert Cornwell
Penguin has embarked on a four-year project to chronicle the lives of all 45 of our monarchs

Penguin chronicles lives of 45 monarchs

From Athelstan to Elizabeth IIs, Gillian Orr discovers some great pub facts
How did 'hipster sans serif' become the defining font of 2014?

The defining font of 2014

The spindly upper-case scrawl has been embraced to death by marketing folk to appeal to Young People and adorns everything from paperbacks to salad bags
The Grandmaster, film review: Wong Kar-Wai's martial arts epic is a lovingly staged dust-up

The Grandmaster review

Wong Kar-Wai's martial arts epic is a lovingly staged dust-up
Christmas 2014: 10 best gifts for teenage boys

10 best gifts for teenage boys

Get them talking, rather than grunting, on Christmas morning with our pick of the presents for teen boys
Paul Scholes column: Barcelona seem bored to me, they are a ghost of their former selves

Paul Scholes column

Barcelona seem bored to me, they are a ghost of their former selves
Frank Warren column: Chris Eubank Jnr still has a bright future – if he gets rid of dad

Frank Warren

Chris Eubank Jnr still has a bright future – if he gets rid of his dad
Autumn Statement: So what difference will it make to your finances?

So what difference will the Autumn Statement make to your finances?

The cost of moving home will fall in 98 per cent of sales, while married couples with money to squirrel away will be cheered
War with Isis: Iran joins ‘Great Satan’s’ fight against militants with bombing raids over Iraq

Iran joins ‘Great Satan’s’ fight against Isis

Tehran may have formed an unlikely alliance with its sworn enemy, but a policy of open confrontation and covert co-operation with US likely to continue, says Patrick Cockburn
From London to Birmingham, what do local people really think of the proposed HS2 project?

What do people really think of HS2?

One writer walked the straight line from London to Birmingham that is the proposed HS2 route
Vladimir Putin's biggest fan club: Media-savvy youth group Set is churning out propaganda and clothing to promote Russia's leader

Vladimir Putin's biggest fan club

Media-savvy youth group Set is churning out propaganda and clothing to promote Russia's leader
Drones are set to take off this Christmas - but there are unexpected dangers in the skies

The unexpected dangers of drones

Remote-control flying gadgets are set to be a very popular present this year - but think before you stick one under the tree