93°F
weather icon Clear

New video in documentary purportedly shows events before fatal Ferguson shooting

FERGUSON, Mo. — A convenience store is disputing a new documentary’s claim that previously unreleased surveillance video suggests Michael Brown didn’t rob the store shortly before he was fatally shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.

One of the filmmakers, Jason Pollock, told The New York Times he believes the footage shows Brown trading a small amount of marijuana for a bag of cigarillos around 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2014. The video doesn’t clearly show what was exchanged, but shows Brown leaving behind the bag of cigarillos.

Pollock reasons Brown intended to come back later for the cigarillos. Pollock argues the new footage challenges what authorities have said about Brown pushing a worker and taking cigarillos during another visit to the store about 10 hours later, shortly before he was killed.

Jay Kanzler, an attorney for the store and the employees shown in the video, said no such transaction took place.

“There was no understanding. No agreement. Those folks didn’t sell him cigarillos for pot. The reason he gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they wanted it back,” Kanzler told the newspaper.

The store’s co-owner, Andy Patel, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday that Brown “grabbed the cigarillos and stole them” when Brown returned to the store later that day. Previously released surveillance video shows Brown strong-arming Patel and pushing him as he left.

Brown, who was 18, was fatally shot minutes later by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Brown, who was black, was unarmed. Wilson is white.

The shooting led to months of unrest and sometimes violent protests in the St. Louis suburb. A local grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice found no evidence of wrongdoing by Wilson, who resigned in November 2014. But the shooting and protests led to scrutiny of Ferguson, resulting in a scathing Justice Department report alleging racial bias in the city’s criminal justice system.

Some of the local officials who investigated the fatal shooting said they didn’t think the new footage shed much light on the case.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he wasn’t surprised Brown was in the Ferguson Market earlier in the day. Belmar said his department focused on investigating the shooting, not the incident at the store.

Former Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said he hadn’t seen the earlier surveillance video, but that he didn’t think it was fair to connect the store with a drug transaction.

The new documentary called “Stranger Fruit” premiered Saturday at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Israeli strikes damage Iran’s underground nuclear site, agency says

This marks the first time the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has assessed damage from the strikes in the underground parts of Natanz, which is the main enrichment facility of Iran’s nuclear program.

Coming to America? In 2025, the US looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid for some

For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America.

Military parade barrels through DC with tanks, troops and 21-gun salute

At times, President Trump saluted as troops marched past the reviewing stand. But attendance appeared to fall far short of early predictions that as many as 200,000 people would attend the festival and parade.

War rages on in Gaza after Israel opens a new front with Iran

The 20-month war with Hamas has raged on even as Israel has opened a new front with heavy strikes on Iran that sparked retaliatory drone and missile attacks.

MORE STORIES