Mike Brown’s Family Denounces Ferguson Police’s Release Of Alleged Robbery Video

The family of Mike Brown accused police in Ferguson, Missouri of "character assassination" after the release Friday of video footage that showed Brown allegedly robbing a convenience store, the family’s lawyer said. They also called Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson “careless” with the release of information regarding the shooting and urged supporters to remain calm.

Ferguson Police released video and a police report Friday that revealed Brown had been identified as a suspect in a convenience store robbery that happened minutes before he was shot by a police officer. “The video has nothing to do with how he was killed on that day,” said the family's lawyer, Daryl Parks.

A second lawyer for the family, Anthony Davis, said that Brown’s parents never presented their son as a “perfect kid.” But he stressed that people should remain focused on the shooting of the unarmed teen by the officer, and not the department’s alleged attempt to paint Brown as a bad person.

“The family feels that that was strategic, they feel that it was aimed at denigrating their son, it was a character assassination,” Davis said. “Do not take the bait from anybody who is trying to character assassinate Mike. Don’t take that.”

Parks said that Brown's mother was distraught over the police chief’s decision to release the footage and photos from the store. He added that she urged residents and supporters to “remain calm.”

When asked if the person in the surveillance video was Brown, Parks said it “appears to be him.”