New Yorker profile
The New Yorker runs a profile of Wilson, covering his early life, training as a police officer, the events surrounding Brown’s death, and his current situation. On the night after the shooting, he talks about being home with his wife:
Neither one of us knew what the reaction was going to be the next day. You know, a typical police shooting is: you get about a week to a week and a half off, you see a shrink, you go through your Internal Affairs interviews. And then you come back…We stayed up all night watching, like, ‘Oh, my God—what’s going on? What are they doing?’
When his wife’s six-year-old son asks him what is happening:
I said, ‘Well, I had to shoot somebody.’ And he goes, ‘Well, why did you shoot him? Was he a bad guy?’ I said, ‘Yeah, he was a bad guy.’
PBS interview
McSpadden and Brown Sr. voice their opinions on respect, equality and the justice system. McSpadden:
Why is it so important to cover this up for this man, he is wrong. What does this do for Ferguson….really.
PBS interview
McSpadden and Brown Sr. give their account on the events that happened in Ferguson on August 9th, 2014. McSpadden:
My son was running for his life and his father has had a conversation with him about how to deal with the authorities if you’re approached.
Today Show interview
McSpadden and Brown Sr. describe the last 36 hours following the Grand Jury’s decision, Officer Wilson’s interview and the justice system:
My son respected law enforcement, who in their right mind would rush or charge at a police officer that has his gun drawn. It sounds crazy.
Crump: When you have people of color be killed they try to demonize and play on the stereotypes, and they try to put the police officer who killed our children on a pedestal. It’s just not right, and we have to fix this system.
Wilson’s first TV interview
Stephanopolous conducts the first interview of Darren Wilson in a ‘secret location’. The hour long interview is set to air Tuesday, November 25 on World News with David Muir and Nightline and Wednesday, Nov. 26, on Good Morning America. Stephanopolous says Wilson told him that while he is sorry for the death of Brown, he would not change how he handled the situation. Stephanopolous:
He does not think he could have done anything differently. He says he did what he was trained to do. He has a clean conscience over his actions that day.
CBS interview
Brown, McSpadden and Brown Sr. give their reactions to the grand jury decision, officer Wilson and the violence in Ferguson. McSpadden:
My son doesn’t have a history of violence, one image does not paint a persons entire life or their entire past on how they were. We all do have a past….
CNN interview
McSpadden and Brown Sr. speak about their United Nations trip to Geneva, Switzerland, their overall mission and police brutality. McSpadden:
We have been received very well, they have given us a lot of love and support since we have been here and everything seems to be positive. It is a great experience.
Steve Harvey interview
Harvey speaks with McSpadden, the mother of deceased teenager Brown, regarding his shooting death. Grieving processes, police brutality and racial protocols are also discussed.
Michael was my first born, he was the leader of the pack for my two daughters and my other son. He was meek, he was humble, he was tall and he was mine.
CNN interview
Johnson, friend of deceased teenager Brown speaks about the funeral, police brutality, the false police report and his friendship with Brown:
He was a good friend, never spoke down about anybody, didn’t really tease anybody about being smaller than him because he was bigger than a lot of people we were around. He was a real good friend he didn’t like to see other people down.
CNN interview
McSpadden and Brown Jr. voice their trust issues with the government and Attorney General, Holder. McSpadden:
Just hearing the words come directly from his mouth face to face, he made me feel like one day I will and I am not saying today or yesterday but one day they’ll regain my trust.
CBS interview
McSpadden and Brown Sr. speak about the loss of their teenage son, Brown. They are requesting the grand jury to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. McSpadden:
He took my son away for nothing.
AC 360 interview
Brown’s parents, McSpadden and Brown Sr. speak with Cooper about the tragic shooting death of their son. They confirm their confidence with the Ferguson justice system, voice their opinions on a grand jury decision and involving the Federal government. McSpadden:
Even if this hadn’t happened people ridicule each other anyway, but he was a teenager, he was growing up, he was only 18. He had a chance to make a mistake and correct it just like the officer, he had a choice and the officer chose the wrong one. Was it really necessary…No. My son was only 18, only 18.
Fusion Live interview
Rapper, T.I. expresses his thoughts on the Brown shooting, the violence in Ferguson, Mo. and the lack of leadership in the African American community.
I think there is a lack of leadership for a few reasons. I think that long ago the systems that had been set in place and excused due to the crack epidemic, the war on drugs that took fathers out of homes that broke up families. There were overwhelming prison sentences given to one substance vs. another version of the same substance. That really broke up a lot of the African American homes.
CNN interview
Nelly speaks on the killing of teenager, Brown. the violent riots in Ferguson, and creating a Brown scholarship fund.
This city is what this city is because of the history. So knowing that and me knowing that I lived through a lot of the history of this city being the way that it is. It is more of a tug of war.
NBC news interview
Eye witness and friend of deceased teenager Brown retells the events leading to the Ferguson police shooting:
It hurt him a lot, I see it in his eyes it hurt him a lot. It was definitely like being shot like an animal, it was almost like putting someone in execution.
Politics Nation interview
Johnson, friend and witness of deceased teenager Brown describes the fatal attack and shooting of Brown:
I know what a taser looks like, a taser gun looks like and I know what a regular gun looks like. When I looked at the officer I was staring dead in front of the barrel and almost a second later the gun went off.
NewsOne interview
Ms. McSpadden and Brown Sr. reveal their son’s personality, future career plans and the negativity surrounding his murder case. Brown Sr.:
He had plans, he wasn’t a bad kid, he wasn’t a bad kid at all. We need the Worlds support.
