Everything that Happened in Darren Wilson's First TV Interview

Darren Wilson gives his first interview.

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Last night we learned the fate of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Mike Brown, after a grand jury announced that there would be no indictment. What followed was widespread grief and anger that manifested itself into violent protests in Ferguson, spawning other protests nationwide

What we also learned was more information about the events that transpired with photos of Darren Wilson’s injuries surfacing as well as his testimony. Tonight we learned Darren Wilson’s side of the story as he sat down for his first interview with George Stephanopoulos for ABC.

Wilson described Brown as aggressive from the very beginning of their encounter quoting him as saying, “What the fuck are you gonna do about it?” after being asked to back up by Wilson. Brown kept inching closer to Wilson and reportedly slammed the patrol car door on him and stared him down.

When Stephanopoulos asked Wilson if he indeed pulled Brown out of the car as some witnesses said he says no. This is when it got more physical.

Darren Wilson described the altercation with Brown as a “barrage of swinging, grabbing, pulling.” Wilson said Brown was throwing and landing punches, while he was trying to grab Brown's forearm to try and stop him.

Wilson echoed the comparison made in his testimony of describing the altercation as a “5-year-old against Hulk Hogan.” With Brown being Hulk Hogan in that scenario. Stephanopoulos quickly interjects that Wilson isn't exactly small (He's 6'4 210 lbs.)

Wilson acknowledges that he’s a pretty big man himself, but still maintained that Brown was overpowering him and that he greatly feared for his life saying he thought to himself, “How do I survive?” He couldn't fathom surviving another punch from Brown and that's when he decided he had to do more and he drew his gun and pointed it at Brown.

At that moment Brown allegedly told Wilson, “You're too much of a pussy to shoot me.” Wilson stayed put and that's when he says Brown put his hand on top of the fire arm as he was trying to get in the trigger. Wilson says when tried to shoot the first time the gun didn’t go off and was jammed because of Brown's hand placement. This happened twice until the gun went off on the third try. 

Brown reportedly gets even angrier, but turns and walks away. When Wilson was asked why not stay in the car (since Brown was leaving) instead of chasing him Wilson said he felt it was his job. “It was [my job]. Thats what we’re trained to do.” 

As Brown was walking away he turned to Wilson. This is when witnesses said he put his hands up, which Wilson called "incorrect." Instead he described Brown as reaching for his pocket once he turned around with one hand as he made a fist with the other. 

That's when Brown starts to run towards Wilson and that's when he thought to himself:

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"Can I shoot this guy? You know? Legally, can I? And the question that I answered myself was, I have to. If I don’t, he will kill me if he gets to me."

Stephanopoulos pressed Wilson and asked if he really felt threatened despite Brown being 35-40 feet away and he said yes.

Throughout the interview it's mentioned several times that in all his years of a police officer this is the first time Wilson had to use his gun and Wilson confirmed. When it came time to telling his supervisor what happened Wilson said, “I told him I had to shoot somebody.”

He repeated this sentiment when he said there was nothing he could have done to prevent killing. And he said race had nothing to do with how he handled the situation.

About the killing Wilson said, “I don’t think it’s haunting. It’s always going to be something that happened. He added, "The reason I have a clean conscience is because I know I did my job right."

 

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