For the second time in a day, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson appeared before the press, once again fumbling his way through difficult questions. In his earlier press conference, Jackson
released a press packet that had nothing to do with the issue at hand—what were the circumstances of Michael Brown's death—but did release the name of Brown's shooter, Darren Wilson. Apparently because so many in the media have been asking what in the hell the robbery of the convenience store had to do with the shooting, Jackson was forced to come back out and clarify: They had
nothing to do with each other.
Jackson says the officer who stopped Brown did not stop him in connection with the alleged robbery. Brown was stopped, Jackson says, “Because he was walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic. That was it.”
Furthermore, Jackson said,
Wilson did not know that Brown was a robbery suspect when he confronted him.
To a follow-up question:
Jackson is asked: If the alleged robbery had nothing to do with Brown being stopped, then why would you release the video of the robbery?
“Because you asked for it,” Jackson says.
Here's a question about that, how did any
reporter know to ask for the video, since until this morning its existence wasn't public knowledge? What this all boils down to:
So...that whole dog-and-pony show this morning had nothing to do with #MikeBrown 's murder. They just wanted to impugn his character. Got it
— @Will_Bunch
It was such an inept dog-and-pony show that Jackson was forced to admit it, just hours after it happened. What a fucking mess.