Another right-wing lie was exposed on Wednesday as the St. Louis Juvenile Court revealed that Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old who was shot to death by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, was not facing any serious felony charges at the time of his death. He also had not been found delinquent of the juvenile equivalent of Class A, B or C felonies, per Cynthia Harcourt, a lawyer for the court who was arguing that the records should stay sealed.
This information was eventually revealed today, despite the opposition of the Brown family, who felt it was confidential and an attempt by media organizations to try to further assassinate Michael Brown’s character, due to two requests. One request was by a local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The other request came from Charles C. Johnson, a right-wing blogger who had made spurious claims that Brown had a juvenile arrest record that included a second-degree murder. Johnson insists that two contacts of his within the St. Louis Police Department provided him with this information.
News tip from law enforcement source: #MichaelBrown Brown was charged with 2nd degree murder as a juvenile. Confirming now… #Ferguson
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) August 18, 2014
Confirmed earlier report that #MichaelBrown had juvenile arrest record involving second degree murder… Working on getting report #Ferguson — Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) August 18, 2014
After a while, much like with the fake X-ray purported to be of Darren Wilson’s non-existent fractured orbital, this story took off in the conservative blogosphere. And, just like with that story, or right-wing claims that the audio recording from Brown’s death was a hoax, conservatives who have pushed all-in on defaming a young black man are left floundering. Of course, Johnson thinks there is a conspiracy afoot, still feels this is a victory for him and is hyping up more ‘blockbuster’ stories he is working on.
What’s a “serious” felony? #MichaelBrown #Ferguson
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) September 3, 2014
Two different local MO journalists told me that the media covered up the extent of the violence during #Ferguson riots.
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) September 3, 2014
I can’t both write the stories that tell the truth and correct the stories that the media gets wrong, guys. Help me out. #Ferguson
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) September 3, 2014
In the end, there was nothing to report. The reason the family didn’t want to release any juvenile records (if there were any) is because they feel that those should remain private. The argument that Johnson and The Post used is that since Brown is now dead, he shouldn’t have any right to privacy. Obviously, Brown’s family and the juvenile court knew that the only reason anyone wanted to see Michael’s juvenile records was to use it against him. The fact is, beyond calling Michael Brown a murder, Johnson has made a lot of other crazy accusations, such as claiming Brown was in a gang. He even took a shot at Michael’s mom for saying he wasn’t in a gang.
LOVE how #MichaelBrown mom said he didn’t join a gang because all eighteen year old boys tell their mamas everything, don’t they? #Ferguson
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) August 25, 2014
You know, I get why Johnson was suing to get these records. He was hoping to find something, ANYTHING, to justify the pure conjecture he’s been floating out on the net that wingnut racists have been gobbling up for weeks. However, what I don’t get is why The Post, a respected publication, jumped on board this tasteless attempt to smear a dead kid. We can talk all we want about freedom of information and what not. In the end, Brown is the victim. He was shot at over 10 times and was hit with at least six bullets. Why the need to needlessly trample on his grave? Thankfully, the paper didn’t get its tabloid headline on Wednesday.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
