FERGUSON, Mo. — Ferguson police on Tuesday released officer-worn body camera footage showing a protester knocking a Black police officer to the ground on the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, leaving the Missouri officer with a life-threatening brain injury.
Police Chief Troy Doyle, speaking at a news conference, said the body camera footage shows that the suspect, 28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis, Ill., had charged at Officer Travis Brown on a sidewalk outside the police station after protesters attempted to pull down a perimeter fence. You can watch the videos on the Ferguson Police Department's YouTube channel.
One of the videos released appears to show at least Gantt on top of the officer on the sidewalk for a short period of time. Police said the officer, Travis Brown, remained in critical condition.
“If you haven’t condemned this act, if you haven’t condemned what happened to my officer, then you are part of the problem,” Doyle said.
Gantt, who was already charged with assault, faced a new assault charge for allegedly kicking another officer in the head, Doyle said.
“If you look at the video, the officer is standing up, waiting to catch this guy,” Doyle said. “This guy tackled my guy like he's a football player.”
Another defendant was charged with property damage for damaging the fence, as well as assault, he said. Three others were charged with various other crimes.
“I believe this department did a tremendous job of allowing these -- what were originally peaceful protests -- to take place,” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said.
Ferguson became synonymous with the national Black Lives Matter movement after Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, was killed by Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson after an altercation between the two. Travis Brown is not related to Michael Brown.
Three separate investigations found no grounds to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November 2014. Bell reiterated Tuesday that absent new evidence, there are no grounds for charges in the case.
But Michael Brown’s death led to months of often violent protests. It also spurred a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that required anti-discrimination changes to Ferguson policing and the courts.
Officer Brown was among a team of officers sent out to make arrests Friday night when protesters began destroying a fence outside police headquarters. The video released Tuesday showed Travis Brown being slammed on the sidewalk on his back. Police said he struck his head on the sidewalk. Doyle said the video was released in part to counter a narrative circulating that officers charged at demonstrators.
The video release still leaves unresolved questions, said Rev. Darryl Gray, a longtime civil rights leader in the protest movement in the St. Louis area.
“It’s obvious that there was contact. Nobody’s disputing that.But what we could not see is whether Elijah saw the police officer. We could not see if Eijah’s head was down,” Gray said, while arguing that the Brown appeared to be in a tackling stance.
“There was nothing that led me to believe that, a it was intentional or deliberate…was this incidental was it accidental? I think a court is going to have to make that decision.”
Gray said his heart and prayers go out to the officer, but said police on Tuesday were going “out of their way to prove a point that should not be proven here, but should be proven in a court of law”
Brown, 36, is the son of a retired St. Louis city police officer and the father of two young daughters. Soon after graduating from college, he joined the St. Louis County Police Department, in 2012. He joined the Ferguson police force in January.
A former supervisor for the St. Louis County department, Lt. Ray Rice, said Travis Brown became a police officer to make a difference.
“Everybody says, ‘Where are all of the good police officers?’” Rice said. “Travis is one of those people.”
Gantt is charged with assault of a special victim, resisting arrest and property damage. A judge on Monday set a bond hearing for Aug. 19 and a preliminary hearing for Sept. 11. Gantt is jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond. He does not yet have an attorney.
The violence that resulted in Travis Brown’s injury drew an angry response from Doyle and from several people in Ferguson, a community of about 18,000 where roughly two-thirds of residents are Black. Many wondered what protesters were so angry about given the changes in Ferguson over the past decade.
In 2014, the Ferguson department had around 50 white officers and only three Black officers. Today, 22 of the 41 officers are Black, including Travis Brown.
Officers today also undergo frequent training on crisis intervention, avoiding bias and other areas. Officers now also wear body cameras. Doyle even changed the look of uniforms, patches and badges after residents said the old look was “triggering.”
“This one act is not gonna stop us from moving forward,” Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones said Tuesday.