Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who killed unarmed teen Michael Brown in August, setting off months of protests, will likely never be a law enforcement officer again, his lawyer said in an interview with NBC station KSDK.
"Realistically speaking, Darren will never be a police officer again, and he understands that," attorney Jim Towey said. "Going forward it will be school, and trying to carve out a new niche, new career, for he and his family."
There were violent protests this week in the St. Louis suburb after a grand jury declined to indict Wilson in Brown’s death on Aug. 9. Twelve buildings and a police car were torched, police officers were pelted with bottles and rocks, and tear gas was used against crowds in protests after the grand jury’s decision Monday. Other protests also erupted across the country.
Wilson said in an interview on ABC this week that he has a "clean conscience" and insisted "I did my job right" when he fatally shot Brown, 18, who he claimed tried to grab his gun and then charged at him that day. Other witnesses claimed the unarmed teen had his hands up when he was shot. Wilson has received death threats in the aftermath of the shooting, Neil Bruntrager, another of Wilson's attorneys, said.
"He knows how to do the job, and could do the job. He believes that if he ever went back to a department, he would put other officers at risk," Bruntrager said. "And he just, he won’t do that, he won’t do that."
