In yesterday's NYTimes there is a front-page article on the just-released report on the autopsy of Michael Brown performed by Dr. Michael Baden, formerly the chief medical examiner for New York City. Way down in the last third of the article, the police story about the liquor store robbery is given full credence:
According to what has emerged so far, on Saturday, Aug. 9, Mr. Brown, along with a companion, Dorian Johnson, was walking in the middle of Canfield Drive, a fistful of cigarillos in Mr. Brown’s hand, police say, which a videotape shows he stole from a liquor store on West Florissant Ave.
At 12:01 p.m., they were stopped by Darren Wilson, a police officer, who ordered them off the road and onto the sidewalk, Mr. Johnson, who is 22, later said.
The police have said that what happened next was a physical struggle between Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson that left the officer with a swollen face. Mr. Johnson and others have said that it was a case of racial profiling and police aggression from a white officer toward a black man. Within minutes, Mr. Brown, who was unarmed, was dead of gunshot wounds.
The sequence of events provided by law enforcement officials places Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson at Ferguson Market and Liquors, a store several blocks away on West Florissant Ave., at about 11:50 a.m. After leaving the store with the cigarillos, the two walked north on West Florissant, a busy commercial thoroughfare, toward Canfield Drive, a clerk reported to the police.
I've looked at the video of the robbery, which to me shows a person who seems to have no relation to Mike Brown, either from how he looked or what he wore. Many, many other people have challenged the relevance of the robbery video, and still it is cited as legitimate evidence. It is preposterous to me that the so-called national "paper of record" would contribute to the character assassination of this young man.
I did not read all the 800+ comments, but what I did showed the readers buying this story.
I guess the lesson to murderous cops and the departments that harbor them is: Take the time to get your story together and you'll convince anyone who isn't paying close attention.
Disgusting and horrifying all over again.