A St. Louis, Missouri county prosecutor said Thursday that he will not charge the white police officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014 after quietly reopening the investigation.
According to reports, civil rights leaders and Brown’s mother hoped that prosecutor Wesley Bell, who became the county’s first black prosecutor in January 2019, could reopen the investigation into police officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown six years ago.
Bell told reporters today that his decision was “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.”
POSTUMMARY LETTER FROM JOHN LEWIS PUBLISHED
But after a five-month investigation into the evidence in the case, witness statements and forensic reports, he concluded that “we cannot prove that he” committed murder or manslaughter.
The mass protests that followed the Brown shooting helped solidify the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country.
A federal investigation and a grand jury dismissed Wilson from all charges months after Brown’s death in 2014.
Bell faced no backlash when he revisited the investigation into the Brown shooting because Wilson was never charged or tried, and there is no statute of limitations on the murder charges.
Brown, accompanied by his friend, told Wilson to go outside to the middle of the street in a residential neighborhood by Wilson, when Brown approached the police vehicle. Throughout the altercation, which lasted approximately 90 seconds, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets, six of which hit Brown in the front of his body.
Witnesses said Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands up when he was shot, but federal investigators and the grand jury said the evidence showed otherwise.
GEORGE FLOYD HOLOGRAM PROJECT IN FRONT OF THE ROBERT E. LEE STATUE IN VIRGINIA
Brown’s body remained on the street for four hours, sparking outrage between his family and local residents, sparking the furious protests that ensued.
“Although this case represents one of the most significant moments in St. Louis history, the question for this office was simple: Could we prove beyond any reasonable doubt that when Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, he committed murder or manslaughter involuntary under Missouri law? Bell said during a press conference on Thursday.
“After an independent and in-depth review of the evidence, we cannot prove that it did.”
Bell noted that just because Wilson was not convicted of murder or manslaughter, he had not been exonerated.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“There are so many points where Darren Wilson could have handled the situation differently and if he had, Michael Brown could still be alive,” Bell told reporters.
The Justice Department declined to charge Wilson, but released a highly critical report pointing to racial bias in the Ferguson Police Department and county courts.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
