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| Michael Brown’s mother: ‘We just got rudeness and disrespect’ from the police | Michael Brown’s mother: ‘We just got rudeness and disrespect’ from the police |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Two days after Ferguson’s police chief issued them an apology, Michael Brown’s parents said they have no confidence in the justice system in Missouri, where a grand jury will decide whether to charge the officer who killed their son. The lack of trust, they said, began the day their son was shot, when they rushed to the scene but were confronted by officers who “gave us the finger” and “sicced dogs” on the crowd. | Two days after Ferguson’s police chief issued them an apology, Michael Brown’s parents said they have no confidence in the justice system in Missouri, where a grand jury will decide whether to charge the officer who killed their son. The lack of trust, they said, began the day their son was shot, when they rushed to the scene but were confronted by officers who “gave us the finger” and “sicced dogs” on the crowd. |
| “We just got rudeness and disrespect,” said Lesley McSpadden, the mother of the unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by a white police officer in the small suburb outside St. Louis. “I got the middle finger in my face from an officer on the scene.” | “We just got rudeness and disrespect,” said Lesley McSpadden, the mother of the unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by a white police officer in the small suburb outside St. Louis. “I got the middle finger in my face from an officer on the scene.” |
| Michael Brown Sr. recalled in an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday how officers pushed them back at the scene on Canfield Drive, where his son was shot by Officer Darren Wilson, who had confronted the 18-year-old about walking in the middle of the street. “They sicced dogs on us to move us back,” Brown said. “We were treated like trash. There was no concern.” | Michael Brown Sr. recalled in an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday how officers pushed them back at the scene on Canfield Drive, where his son was shot by Officer Darren Wilson, who had confronted the 18-year-old about walking in the middle of the street. “They sicced dogs on us to move us back,” Brown said. “We were treated like trash. There was no concern.” |
| Brown and McSpadden said in the interview that they came to Washington to ask the federal government to take over the criminal investigation into their son’s death. They are also seeking congressional hearings into the shooting, which sparked weeks of clashes between protesters and heavily armed police and drew worldwide attention to Ferguson. | Brown and McSpadden said in the interview that they came to Washington to ask the federal government to take over the criminal investigation into their son’s death. They are also seeking congressional hearings into the shooting, which sparked weeks of clashes between protesters and heavily armed police and drew worldwide attention to Ferguson. |
| Later Saturday, McSpadden and Brown were in attendance for President Obama’s speech at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner. He acknowledged their presence in the audience in his remarks. | |
| “Nothing we can say can ease the pain of the loss of a child,” he said, adding that their son’s death awakened the nation to what many young minority men experience. “Whether walking black, or driving black, they are judged by stereotypes that fuel fear, resentment and hopelessness. It makes communities that need strong policing not go to the police because they don’t trust them.” | |
| Not long after Obama’s comments, news services reported that a police officer had been shot in Ferguson, but information on his condition was not immediately available. | |
| In the interview earlier Saturday, Brown and McSpadden said they had not watched a video message released Thursday by Police Chief Thomas Jackson. In the video, he apologized to them for the loss of their son and for leaving his body in the street so long. | |
| Brown, who said he has stopped watching television, dropped his head when asked about the video apology. “I haven’t seen the apology,” he said. | Brown, who said he has stopped watching television, dropped his head when asked about the video apology. “I haven’t seen the apology,” he said. |
| Their attorney, Benjamin L. Crump, added: “The family is fighting for justice. They weren’t fighting for an apology. As Leslie and Mike have said, ‘What about our child?’ ” | Their attorney, Benjamin L. Crump, added: “The family is fighting for justice. They weren’t fighting for an apology. As Leslie and Mike have said, ‘What about our child?’ ” |
| The parents said they have had almost no contact with the police department or the county prosecutor’s office. They also said they have little confidence in the grand jury process, one that St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch has acknowledged is unusual. | The parents said they have had almost no contact with the police department or the county prosecutor’s office. They also said they have little confidence in the grand jury process, one that St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch has acknowledged is unusual. |
| “Normally,” McCulloch told The Post in an interview last week, “we wouldn’t even present to a grand jury until the [investigators’] report was done.” Instead, evidence and witness testimony has been presented to the grand jury as it has arrived. | “Normally,” McCulloch told The Post in an interview last week, “we wouldn’t even present to a grand jury until the [investigators’] report was done.” Instead, evidence and witness testimony has been presented to the grand jury as it has arrived. |
| On Saturday, Crump said he and his clients “are very wary of this particular prosecutor and the way he is doing things. He is doing things in a way you will not get the whole story. The grand jury process does not promote transparency. We are worried and concerned.” | On Saturday, Crump said he and his clients “are very wary of this particular prosecutor and the way he is doing things. He is doing things in a way you will not get the whole story. The grand jury process does not promote transparency. We are worried and concerned.” |
| McCulloch handed the case over to the grand jury with little direction, Crump said. “If a prosecutor wants an indictment, the prosecutor gets an indictment,” he said. “It’s the old saying in law: ‘You could prosecute a ham sandwich. It’s all what the prosecutor wants.’ ” | McCulloch handed the case over to the grand jury with little direction, Crump said. “If a prosecutor wants an indictment, the prosecutor gets an indictment,” he said. “It’s the old saying in law: ‘You could prosecute a ham sandwich. It’s all what the prosecutor wants.’ ” |
| Ferguson police did not respond to a message seeking comment Saturday. | Ferguson police did not respond to a message seeking comment Saturday. |
| The parents asked that McCulloch step aside and that an independent prosecutor be assigned the case. | The parents asked that McCulloch step aside and that an independent prosecutor be assigned the case. |
| They also reiterated that they have confidence in a Justice Department investigation, despite Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s announcement last week that he plans to resign. Holder met with them in Ferguson last month. | |
| “When we had our conversation with him, it was as a parent talking to another parent,” McSpadden said. “He did reassure me it would be fair and transparent.” | “When we had our conversation with him, it was as a parent talking to another parent,” McSpadden said. “He did reassure me it would be fair and transparent.” |
| The parents said they trust Holder to be true to his word. “I don’t feel like he is going to exit and not do what he set out to do,” McSpadden said. | |
| Brown said they feel as if their son’s life has been unfairly scrutinized by the news media and law enforcement, even as relatively little remains known about the officer. | Brown said they feel as if their son’s life has been unfairly scrutinized by the news media and law enforcement, even as relatively little remains known about the officer. |
| “My son is gone,” she said. “There was one person out there with a gun. That is the person we should be focusing on.” | “My son is gone,” she said. “There was one person out there with a gun. That is the person we should be focusing on.” |
| Wilson has not been seen publicly since the day of the shooting. Police said earlier that he was relocated to protect him and his family. McCulloch declined to say whether Wilson had testified before the grand jury. Crump said he believed that Wilson had testified for at least four hours. | Wilson has not been seen publicly since the day of the shooting. Police said earlier that he was relocated to protect him and his family. McCulloch declined to say whether Wilson had testified before the grand jury. Crump said he believed that Wilson had testified for at least four hours. |
| In the interview with The Post, McSpadden and Brown talked about how their lives have changed since the shooting. “Living is a struggle, just as a black person,” McSpadden said. “It’s even harder to get out of bed to think about going to work.” | In the interview with The Post, McSpadden and Brown talked about how their lives have changed since the shooting. “Living is a struggle, just as a black person,” McSpadden said. “It’s even harder to get out of bed to think about going to work.” |
| They said they have received calls and letters of support from others who have lost children under similar circumstances. On Thursday, they spoke at a news conference with the mother of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American who died after a New York City police officer placed him in an illegal chokehold. | They said they have received calls and letters of support from others who have lost children under similar circumstances. On Thursday, they spoke at a news conference with the mother of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American who died after a New York City police officer placed him in an illegal chokehold. |
| McSpadden said she has found some comfort in the calls she has received from other parents. “Them speaking to us is still empowerment,” she said. “They are giving us a lot of prayers. We didn’t know what we needed.” | McSpadden said she has found some comfort in the calls she has received from other parents. “Them speaking to us is still empowerment,” she said. “They are giving us a lot of prayers. We didn’t know what we needed.” |
| Brown said that he talks mostly to the father of Jordan Davis, a black teenager who was fatally shot in 2012 in Florida by a white man who had confronted him and three other teens about loud music coming from their car. | Brown said that he talks mostly to the father of Jordan Davis, a black teenager who was fatally shot in 2012 in Florida by a white man who had confronted him and three other teens about loud music coming from their car. |
| While in Washington, the parents are advocating for what they called the “Michael Brown Law,” which would require police to wear body cameras. | |
| Brown said that his son was a normal kid, an average teen still finding himself. He added that he and McSpadden talked with their son about how to act when stopped by police. “He wanted to know why we were treated a certain way,” Brown recalled. “Why if you have a little sag in your pants, police pull up on you. He was 18, 6-4, 300 pounds — from behind he looks like a grown man. Still, in all, he was our child, a kid, our child.” | |
| “I told him do what you are told,” he said. “Do what you are asked.” | “I told him do what you are told,” he said. “Do what you are asked.” |
| McSpadden said what matters now is what happens next in the justice system. | McSpadden said what matters now is what happens next in the justice system. |
| “I’ve talked and talked and talked about my son,” she said. “My son is gone. I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about what needs to be done.” | “I’ve talked and talked and talked about my son,” she said. “My son is gone. I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about what needs to be done.” |
| Kimberly Kindy and Carol Morello contributed to this report. | Kimberly Kindy and Carol Morello contributed to this report. |
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