Officer Darren Wilson told the Ferguson grand jury that unarmed teen Michael Brown looked like a “demon” during their confrontation that led to Brown’s death, according to testimony released Monday.
“When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan,” he said describing their struggle inside of the patrol car. “That’s just how big he felt and how small I felt just from grasping his arm.”
Court documents of Wilson’s testimony were made public shortly after the grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer was announced. In the transcript, when Wilson described the way Brown looked during their struggle, he said Brown “had the most intense aggressive face. The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that’s how angry he looked.”
Throughout his testimony, Wilson refers to “aggression” from Brown that he says led to their struggle and, ultimately, to the fatal shooting.
“The intense face he had was just not what I expected from any of this,” Wilson said. “I mean it was, he’s obviously bigger than I was and stronger and the, I’ve already taken two [punches] to the face and I didn’t think he would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right. Or at least unconscious and who knows what would’ve happened to me after that.”
The testimony reveals that Wilson did not carry his taser that night because “it is not the most comfortable thing.” He thought to grab his mace but “didn’t want to sacrifice his left hand” which was blocking Brown’s punches, according to the tesimony. In the end, Wilson believed using his gun was his “only option.” Wilson claims that when he went to grab his weapon, Brown yelled “you’re too much of a pussy to shoot me” and tried to take the gun from the officer.
Wilson fired two shots from the patrol car. At that point, according to his testimony, Brown ran from the vehicle and Wilson got out of his car, called for backup, and went after Brown. He claims he told Brown to get on the ground, and instead the teenager starting coming towards him like “he was going to run right through me.”
“I shot a series of shots. I don’t know how many I shot. I just know I shot it,” Wilson said.
Wilson fired 12 shots total. Six of those shots hit Brown, according to Politico. Many eyewitness accounts dispute Wilson’s testimony about what happened. Protests erupted in Ferguson and many other parts of the country after it was announced that Wilson would not be indicted on criminal charges for the death of the unarmed teenager.