Hoax? Facebook Posting from 'Darren Wilson' Details Shooting

There are still a lot of stories swirling around the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last week, and to add to the din is a Facebook posting purportedly by officer “Darren Wilson” that seems to corroborate some previously reported information. However, others claim the posting is a hoax.

On Sunday a video of bystanders talking about the shooting of teenager Brown came to light that seemed to confirm that the teen was running menacingly at the police officer who shot him on the Saturday afternoon of August 9. The video was recorded among a crowd of bystanders who were discussing what they saw as Brown’s body still lay in the street before them.

By Sunday afternoon a Facebook post claiming to be from the officer who shot Brown, officer Darren Wilson, reported a similar story as the bystanders in the video.

Here is the full text of that Facebook posting:

my friends and family have been afraid to put out what really happened due to the severe threats.but here is the truth of what happened. as much as i can tell you at this point.

they were walking in the middle of the street. i pulled my vehicle up, rolled my window down and told them to get out of the street. they refused an yelled back cussing – saying they were already almost where they are going.

i pulled further up and over. i was watching them and at that point i got the call in that there was a strong arm robbery. the description they gave was the same as the two and they had something in their hand that looked like it could be the cigars.

i backed my car up and tried to get out of my car, but they slammed my door shut to prevent me from getting out. i started to get out again and stood up, but michael came and started to shove me back in to the car. he started punching me in the face and at that point i grabbed for my gun

michael grabbed for the gun. he got the gun entirely turned against his hip. the gun goes off after it is shoved. michael took off and got to be about 35 ft away

my first protocol is to pursue, so i yell “freeze” , michael and his friend turn around. michael taunts and yells saying “what are you gonna do about it” stuff like that. And next he started bumrushing me. he just started coming at me at full speed so i started shooting. he kept coming. i definitely think the toxicology report will show that he was not right and under the influence of something

this is my account of what happened (at least, what I can openly share at this point). much of what you will hear on Tv and radio is very inaccurate. i will be deactivating my page shortly so please copy this to share the truth. i appreciate your support – especially from my police family

However, CNN News Editor Ryan Sloane claims that CNN confirmed that this Facebook account is a fake and does not belong to the real officer Wilson. Sloan did not elaborate on how CNN confirmed this nor link to a story discussing the matter.

There seem to be no posts on Wilson’s alleged Facebook account from before the incident, though one post claims previous info was deleted due to the controversy. Though the account may be fake, a significant number of those commenting on it don’t appear to think so, offering apparently heartfelt support. The post itself has garnered over 1000 likes.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.