The grand jury testimony of the Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson is the most extensive commentary we have from the officer, who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, late last summer.

Brown’s death set off weeks of protests in the St Louis suburb, and more demonstrations were sparked on Monday when the grand jury declined to indict Wilson.

Wilson’s testimony was released on Monday shortly after the grand jury made its decision. Here’s what he told jurors:

Brown was big

By Wilson’s own estimates, he was bigger than Brown by about an inch. Wilson described himself as 6ft 4in tall, and Brown as 6ft 3in tall.

Nevertheless, in testimony, Wilson emphasized Brown’s size.

“I see [Brown and Dorian Johnson] walking down the middle of the street. And the first thing that struck me was, they’re walking down the middle of the street … And the next thing I noticed was the size of the individuals, because either the first one was really small or the second one was really big.”

The struggle in the car

Wilson says Brown confronted him at his police car, after he asked why he and Johnson were walking in the middle of the street. He said he was quickly overwhelmed during a struggle in his patrol car.

“I tried to hold his right arm and use my left hand to get out to have some type of control and not be trapped in my car any more,” Wilson said. “And when I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding on to Hulk Hogan.”

Wilson said Brown attacked him, though Wilson is unclear about how Brown hit him. The prosecutor asked why Wilson needed to draw his weapon in the patrol car.

“I felt that another one of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse. I mean it was, he’s obviously bigger than I was and stronger, and I’ve already taken two to the face and I didn’t think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right.”

Brown looked ‘like a demon’

Even before a struggle ensued, Wilson said this about Brown.

“I then looked at him, and I told him to get back, and he was just staring at me, almost like to intimidate me or to overpower me. The intense face he had was just not what I expected from any of this.”

After a struggle ensued and he shot his gun inside the patrol car, Wilson said this about Brown’s reaction.

“He looked up at me, and had the most intense, aggressive face. The only way I can describe it – it looks like a demon. That’s how angry he looked.”

‘Brown hadn’t slowed down’

After Wilson said he shot his gun a second time inside the police car, he said Brown ran. He fired a round of shots at Brown, who he said turned around and advanced on Wilson.

“I remember seeing the smoke from the gun, and I kind of looked at him and he’s still coming at me, he hadn’t slowed down.”

Wilson said he fired, “another round of shots” at Brown, and believed he hit him at least once.



“At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him … And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way.”

Brown started to lean forward, Wilson said.



“And he had started to lean forward as he got close, like he was going to just tackle me, just go right through me.”

The neighborhood was hostile

It wasn’t just Brown that Wilson found threatening. After Wilson shot Brown and believed the teenager was dead, several more Ferguson police arrived. A commander told Wilson to sit in a patrol car, but Wilson refused, saying the area was hostile.

“It’s an anti-police area for sure,” Wilson told jurors.

The prosecutor asked for more.

“There’s a lot of violence in that area, there’s a lot of gun activity, drug activity, it is just not a very well-liked community. That community doesn’t like the police.”

The prosecutor asked if Wilson was on “high alert” in the neighrborhood.

