IJReviewCharles C. Johnson, the Editor-in-Chief of Got News and the investigator who debunked the Everytown shootings map, is suing the St. Louis County Court to release Ferguson shooting victim Michael Brown’s juvenile arrest records.
As relayed by the website YoungCons.com, Johnson claims that he has “confirmed” Michael Brown was arrested in a case involving second-degree murder:
Johnson earlier reported on Twitter that he had two contacts in the St. Louis Police Department tell him that Michael Brown had a juvenile criminal record, thus prompting the lawsuit:
The reporter has been challenged on his rationale for seeking the juvenile records of Brown, and this is his response today:
As reported by Ryan Gorman of AOL News, the citizen journalist wants the alleged arrest records released to the public:
“To find out if those police officers are correct requires seeing Brown’s juvenile arrest record, which ought to be freely available given that he is dead and therefore has no right to privacy remaining,” insists Johnson.
“Knowing the truth about Brown’s past will help us gauge the credibility of his parents and family who have called him a ‘gentle giant.’”
Attorney Johnathon Burns, who is arguing the case, told KMOX that since the teen is deceased, his records are no longer sealed.
The lawsuit follows below, via SCRIBD:
Lawsuit to Release Michael Brown Juvenile Record
The lack of transparency involving the Michael Brown shooting was a major factor in the conflagration in Ferguson. After the initial reports of the Ferguson shooting arose, numerous major news media outlets jumped on the story to frame it as a racially prejudiced police officer shooting an unarmed “gentle giant” when he either had his hands up or was running away.
When video surveillance photos of Michael Brown surfaced, the media questioned the police’s release of the information, which the Holder Justice Department wanted withheld from the public. The story of the strong-arm robbery accomplice Dorian Johnson that Brown was running away appears to be falsified with an initial autopsy failing to show gunshots in the back of Michael Brown.
The police deparment’s version of the story, as well as that of Wilson’s friend, and an unidentified witness commenting on the case, appear to corroborate the story that Brown continued to come at the officer after being initially fired at. The background evidence of the strong-arm robbery and any prior criminal incidents speak to the potential state of mind of Michael Brown during the fatal confrontation.
In any event, since the Ferguson rioting, the matter of Michael Brown’s death and how it occurred is a matter of public interest. The facts of the case must be divulged to the public, and that is the only way the second-guessing and the speculation will end.
CBS News reported a hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for September 3rd.