On Friday, November 28, 2014 3:17:10 AM UTC-5, nestork wrote:
The thing that I can't help thinking is this:

If Wilson believed that Brown was very strong and could easily overpower
him, then when Brown ran away and Wilson gave chase, what was Wilson
planning to do once he caught Brown?


I don't see in evidence that Wilson did very much chasing at all. He
was still close to his patrol car when the final fatal shot was fired.
It was Brown who mostly increased the distance between the two, until
he reversed course and came charging back at Wilson.
He repeatedly ordered Brown to stop and get down on the ground. Had
he done that, Wilson may have kept his gun on him to wait for backup
to arrive, which was just a few minutes. Alternatively, he could have
had him on the ground, kneeling, feet crossed, hands behind his head,
fingers interlocked,
so he could come up behind him and cuff him. IDK what that PD procedure
is for that circumstance. But in general, police are certainly not
trained to just let a perp who is a suspect in a robbery and known by
Brown for sure to have committed a felony assault on an officer, to just walk away.



If he managed to catch up to Brown, did he think he could wrestle him to
the ground and cuff him? That doesn't sound plasible because Wilson
testified that each time Brown punched him in the head, he thought he
wouldn't survive another punch.

So, when Brown runs away and Wilson gets out of his car to give chase on
foot, what does Wilson expect is going to happen if/when he catches
Brown? That part doesn't seem to be very well thought out.

It's not like this is the first time this has happened to a cop or that
it's unusual for some big, violent suspect to run away. It's a basic
part of the job. Good grief.


At that point, it would seem to me that Wilson SHOULD HAVE realized that
if he caught Brown, he very well might lose the struggle with him and
possibly lose possession of his service revolver to Brown, and possibly
even get shot with his own gun.

I thought we resolved yesterday that it was a semi-automatic SigSauer
..40? Not many police here in the US still carry revolvers as their
main service weapon. You're still all mixed up here, who was chasing who,
what kind of gun it was, etc.



Why didn't Wilson realize that if he caught up with Brown, his only two
choices would have been to either shoot Brown or get beaten up by Brown
(and possibly shot by Brown). It seems to me that if someone had just
punched me several times in the head so hard that I thought they might
kill me, chasing after them on foot with no plan as to what to do once I
caught up with them isn't a very well thought out plan.

You keep making the assumption that he was chasing after Brown with the
intent of catching up to him. That isn't what the evidence shows. Brown
was still close to his car. Brown had run away, Wilson aimed his gun at
Brown and told him to stop. Wilson then charged back at Brown. It was
*Brown* who was closing the distance, certainly at the end, when Brown was
firing. So, please, stop making it sound like the cop was chasing after
him and mowing him down.


It seems to me that if I'm chasing Mike Tyson on foot, what I'm going to
do with this Hulk of a man once I catch him would be what I would be
thinking about. Did Wilson have a plan at all at that point? Shouldn't
he have realized he needed to get back to his car and get a tazer or
some pepper spray (because his only other option would be to shoot
Brown)?


Good grief. When the guy has already assaulted you and tried to kill you
with your own guy, pepper spray or a taser aren't the implements of choice.
Do you even know if he had a taser? Had Brown not charged back at the officer,
the likely outcomes would have been:

A - Brown complies and gets down on the ground. At that point Wilson probably
would have waited for backup. Or he may have gotten Brown into the proper
position for cuffing him from behind and tried to cuff him alone. I suppose
at that point, if Brown then turned around and tried to come at Brown again,
and he shot him point blank, it would be Wilson's fault too. Hell, I guess
Wilson should just have stayed in bed that day. That's kind of what the rest
of the local, state, and national guard did the days of the riots.

B - Brown continues to move away and Wilson follows him at ~ 30 ft distance
until backup arrives. I assume you've seen some footage on TV, shows like
COPS, where that happens all the time. The cops chase a fleeing suspect?
It is part of their job.