The family of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager killed last weekend in Ferguson, Missouri, accused police Friday of trying to smear his name.
The family released a statement after police revealed that Brown, 18, was the primary suspect in the robbery of a convenience store minutes before he was shot to death by a Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson.
The statement reads in full:
Michael Brown's family is beyond outraged at the devious way the police chief has chosen to disseminate piece mil information in a manner intended to assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of his person in broad daylight.There is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender.The prolonged release of the officer's name and then the subsequent alleged information regarding a robbery is the reason why the family and the local community have such distrust for the local law enforcement agencies.It is no way transparent to release the still photographs alleged to be Michael Brown and refuse to release the photographs of the officer that executed him.The police strategy of attempting to blame the victim will not divert our attention, from being focused on the autopsy, ballistics report and the trajectory of the bullets that caused Michael's death and will demonstrate to the world this brutal execution of an unarmed teenager.
