Michael Brown’s Mother Allegedly Involved In Ferguson Assault
Michael Brown's mother and grandmother, allegedly ransacked a t-shirt stand last month and assaulted the proprietors, according to a police report of the event.
A group of at least 20 people including Michael Brown's mother and grandmother allegedly ransacked a Ferguson, Missouri t-shirt stand in October and assaulted the proprietors, who were selling the clothing memorializing the dead teenager, according to a recently surfaced police report of the incident.Pearlie Gordon, 54, said she was working in a Ferguson parking lot, selling "Justice for Mike Brown" t-shirts when a group of between 20 and 30 people got out of cars and rushed the tent.
The death of Michael Brown, the Missouri teenager killed by a white police officer on August 9, set off a series of protests in the predominantly St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. Brown's death and the subsequent demonstrations put both policing and race relations under a countrywide microscope.According to the Ferguson police report, shown below, Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, approached the tent and told Gordon "you can't sell this shit." Gordon then told 34-year-old McSpadden that unless she could prove that she had a patent on her son's name, the stand was going to keep selling the t-shirts.Then Brown's grandmother, Desuirea Harris, allegedly said "you don't know my grandson like that. I'm gonna tear this shit down," and reportedly began pulling down t-shirts and other hanging items.Ferguson officials were out of the office on Tuesday and didn't respond to VICE News' calls for comment on the incident.Mike Brown's Mom Is Taking Her Son's Case to the UN in Geneva. Read more here.Gordon told police that she was hit in the back and the side of the head by an unknown object before being knocked to the ground and punched by members of the mob, allegedly including McSpadden. The other two people working in the tent also were allegedly assaulted.The assailants took $1,500 worth of merchandise from the tent and a suitcase that contained at least $400, Gordon told police. One of the people working the tent was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the attack, according to the police report.
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Daryl Parks, the lawyer that has been representing the Brown family, didn't return VICE News' calls seeking comment, but told the Smoking Gun that the investigation of the incident is ongoing and that no charges have been filed.The release of the police report comes as tensions in Ferguson remain high, as the town and nation await the grand jury verdict on whether it will charge Officer Darren Wilson in Brown's killing. Reports say the Ferguson police have been gearing up for more protests, which are expected to start once the jury makes a decision in the case.
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