Michael Brown’s Mother: ‘My Son Was Running for His Life’

Michael Brown’s parents made an appearance on Charlie Rose’s PBS show on Wednesday.

Partial transcript as follows:

ROSE: Tell me what your understanding is of what happened between officer Wilson and your son?

MCSPADDEN: My understanding. Officer Wilson was driving down Canfield where my son was walking. He said some vocal things to him about getting out of the street.

ROSE: He was walking in the street?

MCSPADDEN: He was actually coming across the street. It’s the two lane road. And he told him, ‘Well, I’m almost home.’ And from there, officer Wilson turned his vehicle as if he was blocking traffic [indecipherable], trying to get to my son, opening the door, hit him with the door and then attempted to grab him and making contact to the point where he’s pulling him towards him. And my son is trying to get away.

ROSE: He’s still in the car? He’s still in the car — officer Wilson?

MCSPADDEN: He’s still in the car.

ROSE: And then?

MCSPADDEN: And as he tries to get away, he get him off off him, he tells him, ‘I’ll shoot you.’

ROSE: And there are couple of shots?

MCSPADDEN: I believe so.

ROSE: At that time.

MCSPADDEN: How many, I don’t know, but I believe this when my son was shot in —

ROSE: And I ask both of you to add to this, but you also I assume base this on what witnesses may have told you —

MCSPADDEN: Exactly.

ROSE: That you knew in the community.

MCSPADDEN: Exactly.

ROSE: People you knew and other people that might come forward.

MCSPADDEN: “People that come forward and there was a lot of people that I didn’t know, that I still don’t know. But they saw things and they were just compelled to let us know what they saw, because they knew that this kid did not deserve what happened to him and they didn’t know my son from [Adam].

ROSE: We will talk about your son as well and who’s this son that you knew and loved. So then what happened? Because your son walked away.

MCSPADDEN: My son was running for his life and as his father has said before he’s had a conversation with him about how to deal with the authorities if you are approached.

ROSE: Which was?

MCSPADDEN: Which was to obey basically. If they ask you do to something, you have to do it. And I believe that he asked my son to stop and I believe that’s what he did. He stopped, he turned around to get down on his knees, like the officer asked him.

ROSE: You believe he was on his knees?

MCSPADDEN: I believe so.

ROSE: And then he was shot?

MCSPADDEN: I believe he was shot closer and –I don’t think my son was launching IN any, I mean, any kind of way because of the way the bullets entered his body, and the things that they would  do inside his body, while he’s constantly shooting him, there’s no way he get any strength or energy to launch at him at all. And for him to say that when he looked down the barrel of his gun, so far what he was to say was the last shot, he hit my son’s head. Explain it to me. Explain it to me how was my son down on the ground with his hands up, begging you basically for his life, he’s begging you.

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