From Legal Insurrection:
Illinois Lt. Governor Tweets That Michael Brown Was “Murdered”
In fact, Brown was shot when he sucker punched a cop and tried to grab his service weapon. Yet 11 years after Brown’s shooting, the lie persists and is spread by politicians and activists.
Posted by William A. Jacobson Saturday, August 9, 2025
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot dead by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the narrative, Brown was a “gentle giant” who was shot by a racist cop just for being black, while his hands were raised shouting ‘don’t shoot.’
Illinois Lt. Governor Tweets That Michael Brown Was “Murdered”
In fact, Brown was shot when he sucker punched a cop and tried to grab his service weapon. Yet 11 years after Brown’s shooting, the lie persists and is spread by politicians and activists.
Posted by William A. Jacobson Saturday, August 9, 2025 at 09:00pm 50 Comments
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot dead by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the narrative, Brown was a “gentle giant” who was shot by a racist cop just for being black, while his hands were raised shouting ‘don’t shoot.’
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” became the rallying cause of a new group formed after the shooting, Black Lives Matter, which previously was just a hashtag (after the Trayvon Martin shooting).
BLM, which became arguably the most influential movement of this century – weaponized completely after George Floyd – was based on a fabrication and lies.
Michael Brown was not shot with his hands up while shouting don’t shoot.
Michael Brown, a petty street criminal, was shot when he sucker-punched Wilson who was sitting in his patrol car, reached in and tried to steal Wilson’s service pistol leading to the first shot to Brown’s hand.
After Wilson exited the vehicle, Brown then made a second charge at him, at which point the second and fatal shot was fired.
There is no credible evidence that Brown’s hands were raised at the time or that he was shouting ‘don’t shoot’.
That’s what Obama’s DOJ found in its report:
Wilson and other witnesses stated that Brown then reached into the SUV through the open driver’s window and punched and grabbed Wilson. This is corroborated by bruising on Wilson’s jaw and scratches on his neck, the presence of Brown’s DNA on Wilson’s collar, shirt, and pants, and Wilson’s DNA on Brown’s palm. While there are other individuals who stated that Wilson reached out of the SUV and grabbed Brown by the neck, prosecutors could not credit their accounts because they were inconsistent with physical and forensic evidence, as detailed throughout this report.
Wilson told prosecutors and investigators that he responded to Brown reaching into the SUV and punching him by withdrawing his gun because he could not access less lethal weapons while seated inside the SUV. Brown then grabbed the weapon and struggled with Wilson to gain control of it. Wilson fired, striking Brown in the hand. Autopsy results and bullet trajectory, skin from Brown’s palm on the outside of the SUV door as well as Brown’s DNA on the inside of the driver’s door corroborate Wilson’s account that during the struggle, Brown used his right hand to grab and attempt to control Wilson’s gun. According to three autopsies, Brown sustained a close range gunshot wound to the fleshy portion of his right hand at the base of his right thumb. Soot from the muzzle of the gun found embedded in the tissue of this wound coupled with indicia of thermal change from the heat of the muzzle indicate that Brown’s hand was within inches of the muzzle of Wilson’s gun when it was fired. The location of the recovered bullet in the side panel of the driver’s door, just above Wilson’s lap, also corroborates Wilson’s account of the struggle over the gun and when the gun was fired, as do witness accounts that Wilson fired at least one shot from inside the SUV.
Although no eyewitnesses directly corroborate Wilson’s account of Brown’s attempt to gain control of the gun, there is no credible evidence to disprove Wilson’s account of what occurred inside the SUV. Some witnesses claim that Brown’s arms were never inside the SUV. However, as discussed later in this report, those witness accounts could not be relied upon in a prosecution because credible witness accounts and physical and forensic evidence, i.e. Brown’s DNA inside the SUV and on Wilson’s shirt collar and the bullet trajectory and close-range gunshot wound to Brown’s hand, establish that Brown’s arms and/or torso were inside the SUV….
Although there are several individuals who have stated that Brown held his hands up in an unambiguous sign of surrender prior to Wilson shooting him dead, their accounts do not support a prosecution of Wilson. As detailed throughout this report, some of those accounts are inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence; some of those accounts are materially inconsistent with that witness’s own prior statements with no explanation, credible for otherwise, as to why those accounts changed over time. Certain other witnesses who originally stated Brown had his hands up in surrender recanted their original accounts, admitting that they did not witness the shooting or parts of it, despite what they initially reported either to federal or local law enforcement or to the media. Prosecutors did not rely on those accounts when making a prosecutive decision.
While credible witnesses gave varying accounts of exactly what Brown was doing with his hands as he moved toward Wilson – i.e., balling them, holding them out, or pulling up his pants up – and varying accounts of how he was moving – i.e., “charging,” moving in “slow motion,” or “running” – they all establish that Brown was moving toward Wilson when Wilson shot him. Although some witnesses state that Brown held his hands up at shoulder level with his palms facing outward for a brief moment, these same witnesses describe Brown then dropping his hands and “charging” at Wilson.
Illinois Lt. Governor Tweets That Michael Brown Was “Murdered”
In fact, Brown was shot when he sucker punched a cop and tried to grab his service weapon. Yet 11 years after Brown’s shooting, the lie persists and is spread by politicians and activists.
Posted by William A. Jacobson Saturday, August 9, 2025 at 09:00pm 50 Comments
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot dead by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the narrative, Brown was a “gentle giant” who was shot by a racist cop just for being black, while his hands were raised shouting ‘don’t shoot.’
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” became the rallying cause of a new group formed after the shooting, Black Lives Matter, which previously was just a hashtag (after the Trayvon Martin shooting).
BLM, which became arguably the most influential movement of this century – weaponized completely after George Floyd – was based on a fabrication and lies. Michael Brown was not shot with his hands up while shouting don’t shoot.
Michael Brown, a petty street criminal, was shot when he sucker-punched Wilson who was sitting in his patrol car, reached in and tried to steal Wilson’s service pistol leading to the first shot to Brown’s hand. After Wilson exited the vehicle, Brown then made a second charge at him, at which point the second and fatal shot was fired. There is no credible evidence that Brown’s hands were raised at the time or that he was shouting ‘don’t shoot’. That’s what Obama’s DOJ found in its report:
Wilson and other witnesses stated that Brown then reached into the SUV through the open driver’s window and punched and grabbed Wilson. This is corroborated by bruising on Wilson’s jaw and scratches on his neck, the presence of Brown’s DNA on Wilson’s collar, shirt, and pants, and Wilson’s DNA on Brown’s palm. While there are other individuals who stated that Wilson reached out of the SUV and grabbed Brown by the neck, prosecutors could not credit their accounts because they were inconsistent with physical and forensic evidence, as detailed throughout this report.
Wilson told prosecutors and investigators that he responded to Brown reaching into the SUV and punching him by withdrawing his gun because he could not access less lethal weapons while seated inside the SUV. Brown then grabbed the weapon and struggled with Wilson to gain control of it. Wilson fired, striking Brown in the hand. Autopsy results and bullet trajectory, skin from Brown’s palm on the outside of the SUV door as well as Brown’s DNA on the inside of the driver’s door corroborate Wilson’s account that during the struggle, Brown used his right hand to grab and attempt to control Wilson’s gun. According to three autopsies, Brown sustained a close range gunshot wound to the fleshy portion of his right hand at the base of his right thumb. Soot from the muzzle of the gun found embedded in the tissue of this wound coupled with indicia of thermal change from the heat of the muzzle indicate that Brown’s hand was within inches of the muzzle of Wilson’s gun when it was fired. The location of the recovered bullet in the side panel of the driver’s door, just above Wilson’s lap, also corroborates Wilson’s account of the struggle over the gun and when the gun was fired, as do witness accounts that Wilson fired at least one shot from inside the SUV.
Although no eyewitnesses directly corroborate Wilson’s account of Brown’s attempt to gain control of the gun, there is no credible evidence to disprove Wilson’s account of what occurred inside the SUV. Some witnesses claim that Brown’s arms were never inside the SUV. However, as discussed later in this report, those witness accounts could not be relied upon in a prosecution because credible witness accounts and physical and forensic evidence, i.e. Brown’s DNA inside the SUV and on Wilson’s shirt collar and the bullet trajectory and close-range gunshot wound to Brown’s hand, establish that Brown’s arms and/or torso were inside the SUV….
Although there are several individuals who have stated that Brown held his hands up in an unambiguous sign of surrender prior to Wilson shooting him dead, their accounts do not support a prosecution of Wilson. As detailed throughout this report, some of those accounts are inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence; some of those accounts are materially inconsistent with that witness’s own prior statements with no explanation, credible for otherwise, as to why those accounts changed over time. Certain other witnesses who originally stated Brown had his hands up in surrender recanted their original accounts, admitting that they did not witness the shooting or parts of it, despite what they initially reported either to federal or local law enforcement or to the media. Prosecutors did not rely on those accounts when making a prosecutive decision.
While credible witnesses gave varying accounts of exactly what Brown was doing with his hands as he moved toward Wilson – i.e., balling them, holding them out, or pulling up his pants up – and varying accounts of how he was moving – i.e., “charging,” moving in “slow motion,” or “running” – they all establish that Brown was moving toward Wilson when Wilson shot him. Although some witnesses state that Brown held his hands up at shoulder level with his palms facing outward for a brief moment, these same witnesses describe Brown then dropping his hands and “charging” at Wilson.
The fabrication and lies about the Brown shooting gave rise to riots in Ferguson, to the BLM movement, and to the hijacking of the movement by anti-Israel activists.
The lie was so embedded in BLM that during the George Floyd riots “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” became a rallying cry…
The lie persists year-after-year, so I repeatedly have written about the fabrication:
- Two years ago Michael Brown died, and a movement based on lies was born (2016)
- Five years ago Michael Brown died, and a movement based on lies was born (2019)
- Reminder: “Hands up, don’t shoot” is a fabricated narrative from the Michael Brown case (2020)
That 2020 post ‘triggered’ people at Cornell Law School leading to unsuccessful attempts to get me fired and for a boycott of my course.
The lie resurfaced today on X on the anniversary of Brown’s death, including in a post by the Lt. Governor of Illinois:
“Michael Brown graduated from high school 8 days before he was murdered. He should be here today, living the life he imagined for himself that day.
“In his memory, we continue the fight for justice and equality.”
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Many other politicians made similar posts.
You can read them here.
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Jacobson ends his article with this:
“And on and on it goes.
“The lie persists, it will never go away, it’s too essential to what’s left of the BLM movement.”
