3 Blacks, 9 Whites on grand jury weighing Ferguson shooting case
The FBI says it has completed its work canvassing the neighborhood where unarmed black teen Michael Brown was killed. They knocked on more than 400 doors and interviewed more than 200 people, trying to get more information on what happened the day Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson.
CNN is also learning about the racial makeup of the grand jury hearing this case.
St. Louis County Circuit Court administrator Paul Fox said there are three African-Americans - one male, two females - and nine whites - six males, three females - on the 12-member panel. There are a total of seven men and five women.
No information was given about the ages or occupations of any on the grand jury.
OutFront, President of the NAACP Cornell Williams Brooks.
#Ferguson community and @NAACP are "open to a verdict that matches the facts," @CornellWBrooks tells @CNN's @ErinBurnett.
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) August 22, 2014
On Twitter
Erin, during your interview with the head of the NAACP, you were stumbling, stuttering and your head was down - why so? You were clearly intimidated, nervous and unclear what your job even was.... to report the news in an unbiased fashion..... you were not able to do that.
Even the medical examiner for the family is bias towards the police. I have never seen anyone charge someone with their hands up. The notion that he could have been either holding his hands up to charge the officer or give up is absurd.
In a community that is 70 percent black? Funny how CNN keeps reporting that the facts haven't come out yet (implying the three black witnesses are lying) meaning the officer's story will be the facts.
What is wrong with this picture? Who chose this jury? I realize it is a selection process that is set into law, but really, after almost 500 years of kidnapping, selling into slavery, Jim Crow, past to current oppressing of African Americans, and more than 50 years since 60s Civil Rights Movement & landmark Civil Rights Legislation (which now has been decimated in a major way by our "Supremes"), the best that could be done in a community that is predominantly black... the best that could be done... is 3 blacks and 9 whites? Yet another outrage. I am trying to remain hopeful that not all of the non-blacks on the jury are not racist, but....it is but a thin thread of hopefulness.
Grand Jury's differ from trial jury's in that they serve a term. I don't know thw term in Ferguson or St. Louis – some grand juries serve a year, some six months. Anyway, this grand jury was already in place when this tragedy happened...they weren't chosen after the fact.