A new video has emerged in the Michael Brown case that could show a different narrative than the one presented by the police. Brown was shot to death by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer in 2014, and the event triggered massive protests and riots amid claims of racism.
The new video shows Brown inside of the convenience store early in the morning on the day he died, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Documentary filmmaker Jason Pollock acquired the footage and has included it in his new documentary Stranger Fruit. The documentary looks at the case from the perspective of Brown's family.
The video appears to show 18-year-old Brown in the convenience store around 1 AM on August 9, 2014. Brown walks in and gives a bag of marijuana to the employees behind the store's counter. Brown is handed two boxes of cigarillos by one of the clerks. Shortly after, as Brown is about to leave the store, he hands the bag with the cigarillos to one of the clerks, apparently to hold for him.
Hours later during the same day, Brown returns to the store. Pollack believes that Brown returned to pick up the cigarillos at the counter. A video of this later trip to the store has been shown to the public, and shows Brown grabbing the cigarillos with a friend. As he is walking out of the store, the clerk who is working at the time tries to stop him. Brown shoves the clerk, who calls the police to report a robbery. This would later lead to the interaction between Brown and Officer Darren Wilson, where Wilson shot Brown.
Pollock claims that the new video footage goes against the narrative presented by police immediately after Brown's death. The police reported that Brown stole the cigarillos, while Pollock is asserting that they were part of an exchange.
A lawyer for the convenience store and its employees, Jay Kanzler, said that the cigarillos were not part of an exchange.
"There was no transaction. There was no understanding. No agreement," Kanzler said. "Those folks didn’t sell him cigarillos for pot. The reason he gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they wanted it back."