August 9, 2014, changed the world. While the world mobilized, Lezley was navigating the deepest grief imaginable. What was it like to grieve in the public eye, while her son’s name became a rallying cry? How did she process the love, the anger, and the weight of a movement born from her loss? This series was created in partnership with Campaign Zero, a nonprofit organization that develops data-driven policy solutions to end police violence in America. Learn more about the series and the work of Campaign Zero and The Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons and Daughters Foundation at www.stillmybaby.org. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: lemonadamedia.com/sponsorsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What happened on August 9, 2014?
It contradicted those accounts, with people saying that Mike never had his hands up and that he had acted aggressively. Ferguson police also painted Mike as a criminal. They released security footage purporting to show Mike and his friend stealing from a convenience store on August 9th.
With the video's release, they shifted public attention away from both the officer that murdered Mike and the ongoing police violence against protesters. Despite everything, Leslie and the protesters held on to hope that the truth of what happened would lead to real justice. They had this hope because President Barack Obama made a statement of support. And Eric Holder, the first Black U.S.
Attorney General, met with Mike's family personally.
Our investigation will be fair. It will be thorough. And it will be independent.
It all made Leslie feel like this case mattered to the country and to the people in charge. That night, Leslie and her family gathered in a hotel room holding hands in prayer. Then the news came. The St. Louis County prosecutor, Bob McCullough, announced that the grand jury decided not to indict after all.
They determined that no probable cause exists to file any charge against Officer Wilson and returned no true bill on each of the five indictments.
Protests flared that night, and Leslie and her husband Louis joined people in the streets. In a cell phone video, you can see them, surrounded by the crowd. In response to the lack of indictment, Leslie sobbed and exclaimed, they don't care. Next to her, Louis was angry at the injustice, and he expressed it as well. The media chose to fixate on Leslie and Lewis's reactions.
When crowds that night burned buildings, looted businesses, and clashed with police, they were unfairly blamed and held responsible for the most destructive actions of the protesters.
They did everything to make us the bad guys, and we were never the bad guys. It was a person that we'd never seen. It was like a ghost. The pain that was going through our house and family was something that we could not rebuild with wood and sticks and stones. And no amount of money could say, hey, you could put your house back. We could rebuild your stores. No, we can't pay for this life.
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