Bishop Derrick Robinson, one of the organizers of protests in Ferguson alleged that the shooting of two Ferguson police officers was a “set up” orchestrated by the police on Monday’s “NewsNation” on MSNBC.
Robinson said that suspect Jeffrey Williams, who he had spoken to, “did say that he was robbed while he was on the scene. And I think, — I believe he was frustrated, and I really believe he was set up, and I really believe that, and I know it may not –”
When asked who Williams was set up by, Robinson responded, “police. I think he was set up, by — I would go farther to say some of the police, you know, the story just does not add up.”
Robinson continued, “I think he was not only, he was beaten — when he was brutally beaten when he was arrested. And I think he was coerced to without — he was not even given an opportunity to seek counsel before he even — the police, they beat him to confessing. And so, not sure, but I will allow his attorney as he’s meeting with him now, to kind of give further questions, and to be able to answer more questions concerning what would he — what was his response. But, I think that things would have been different if he was offered a public defender or an attorney to allow them to speak with him prior to answering any questions.” Although, he did concede that Williams admitted to firing the shots that hit the officers, but that “I really hate that he did that without seeking counsel, and I hate that the officers brutally beat him into — in coercing him to state those things prior to — and putting him in isolation, and also denying medical attention.”
Earlier, Robinson reported that Williams “said that he was upset, he was reacting out of frustration and anger. He was very — he showed a lot of remorse, he was very sorry and apologetic. And we really had a long, extensive talk. And he shared with me that he wished he had not done it, and that if he had an opportunity to re-do that again, he would not make — he would make sure that that does not happen.”
He added that while he didn’t know if Williams was targeting the police, and didn’t ask, “I know he wasn’t targeting the protesters.” Later Robinson said that he believes “I don’t think he had a negative motive, at all”
Robinson also stated, “as a lead organizer in the protest movement, he had not been a protester. He — he was actually coming out that afternoon just to kind of see what was going on, but he had never protested before, and so we wanted to make sure that the narrative of our story is not given to be and to be painted as a black eye to our community, because that’s not who we are.”
(h/t Mediaite)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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