The Ferguson Lawsuit filed against the City of Ferguson is interesting and there are many issues that need to be discussed. The entire situation has been blown out of proportion by the media and they have distorted what happened in this matter. There were actually five officers involved in this scandal, but the media made it seem like there were seven and that made it more sensational than it really was.
Officer Darren Wilson was not involved in the arrest but he arrested Mr. Brown because he thought Mr. Brown matched the description of a suspect that was running from an officer. Mr. Brown owed the officer his money and when he did not show up for his scheduled trial, the officer arrested him and brought him to the Ferguson Police Department for booking. When the arresting officer saw that Mr. Brown had an outstanding warrant, he asked him to go to jail. However, before booking Mr. Brown, the officer had other options and he offered to give Mr. Brown a ride to his mother’s house so that he could get on with his trial.
Mr. Brown was upset at the fact that he was being detained and asked to come with his mother. When the officers refused to let him come with his mother, he asked for a free ride home and told the officer that he would pay the fine if he would just come with him. This is when the lawsuit was started because Mr. Brown’s mother finally received an unpaid traffic ticket in her mailbox.
When the officer tried to arrest Mr. Brown, he fought the officers and they placed him in the backseat of their car. He informed the officer that he understood and respected the police power to search and arrest someone without probable cause. The dashcam video showed that Officer Darren Wilson was wrong and that he arrested Mr. Brown without cause or any reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime. The dashcam video showed that Officer Wilson did not look directly at Mr. Brown during the entire traffic stop and did not hear him make any threatening comments. There were no statements from the four other officers who saw Mr. Brown commits illegal actions before arresting him. There were no drugs found in his pockets or in his car.
There was another cop named Mark Szona who wrote an affidavit to support the claim that Mr. Brown owed him money for unpaid traffic tickets. There were no records of any unpaid traffic tickets for Mr. Brown. Yet, Officer Darren Wilson gave a statement to the investigating officer that said that Mr. Brown matched the description of someone who stole a truck. Officer Wilson said that he saw the stolen truck and saw two young men inside who were running from the truck. These statements are in direct conflict with witnesses who stated that they saw Mr. Brown is walking down the middle of the street while white. There are still inconsistencies in regards to the events surrounding the arrest of Mr. Brown.
The Department of Justice needs to investigate whether or not these inconsistencies are prejudiced or if they are justified. If the evidence shows that the arresting officer followed proper procedure, had reasonable suspicion to arrest Mr. Brown and that officer’s testimony about the events leading up to the stop is accurate. If this case loses, the city of Ferguson will owe Mr. Brown’s attorney fees. And if the judge rules in favor of the officer, the City of Ferguson will be forced to pay Mr. Brown’s attorney fees. The entire city is facing a possible class action suit from the citizens of Ferguson if this case wins.