General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I work with teens Michael Brown's age and the number one rule is [View all]KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)Mike Brown had walked out with merchandise he had not paid for. But in describing Mike Brown's reaction to Johnson's own discomfort, Johnson suggests that Brown had little 'consciousness of guilt' or even awareness that he had done anything amiss. As for whether Mike Brown 'bullied' the store owner, Johnson's testimony does not support it and the video is ambiguous as to who is doing what to whom (and, equally or even more important, why).
My feeling reading Johnson's testimony is that Wilson told the two to get out of the street, heard Johnson say they would shortly, drove off, then looked in his rearview mirror, saw that they were still in the street, i.e., disobeying his command, and reversed his car to confront the two over their insubordination. So when Wilson reverses his car recklessly, almost hitting the two, he says "What did you (just) say?" The ADA seemed confused by this and allowed herself to get derailed into asking Johnson whether Mike had said anything. And Johnson seems equally bewildered repeatedly averring that Brown had said nothing. The ADA wanted Johnson to comment on the literal meaning of Wilson's question. But what the ADA and the grand jurors should have asked is whether Wilson was asking that question hostilely, as in "I told you to get out of the street and you said you would. Now I see you're still in the street, so what did you JUST say (and why aren't you obeying my commands)"?
IOW, I take a far more benign view of Brown's actions and mindset that morning and a far more malign view of what was going through Wilson's head.