Friend Who Witnessed Shooting of Michael Brown Is Killed
In this Aug. 25, 2014, file photo, Dorian Johnson leaves church at the end of the funeral service for his friend, Michael Brown, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Dorian Johnson, whose eyewitness account of Michael Brown’s 2014 death helped spark the “Hands up, don’t shoot” movement, was fatally shot on Sunday near the same Ferguson streets where nationwide protests began a decade ago.
Johnson, 33, was found outside an apartment complex less than a mile from the site where Brown was killed by police in the St. Louis suburb, according to authorities. Ferguson police confirmed that no law enforcement officers were involved in the shooting, which remains under investigation.
“This appears to be a domestic incident involving a claim of self-defense,” the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney said in a statement on Monday, as reported by the New York Times.
Johnson was with Brown on the day he was shot and killed by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, and his account of the incident played a central role in the public outcry that followed. He claimed Brown was attempting to surrender with his hands raised—a version of events that fueled protests and calls for justice nationwide.
However, subsequent investigations, including one by the U.S. Department of Justice, found conflicting witness statements about Brown’s actions before he was shot. Wilson was not indicted, but the DOJ’s civil rights investigation revealed systemic racial bias and misconduct within the Ferguson Police Department and municipal court system.
Johnson’s death marks a grim echo of the tragedy that brought his name into the national conversation a decade ago.
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