Michael Brown’s stepfather said Wednesday that it was “wrong” for people to blame him for the unrest that followed a grand jury’s decision not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot Brown.
Ferguson, Mo. police Chief Thomas Jackson said Tuesday that his department and other law enforcement agencies were looking into whether Brown’s stepfather, Louis Head, meant to incite a riot when he yelled “Burn this motherfucker down! Burn this bitch down!” after the grand jury’s announcement. The New York Times caught the outburst on camera.
Head told CNN that he was very emotional at the time, but still shouldn’t have screamed out those words at such a tense moment.
“It was wrong and I humbly apologize to all of those who read my pain and anger as a true desire for what I want for our community,” he said.
“But to place blame solely on me for the conditions of our community, and country, after the grand jury decision goes way too far and is as wrong as the decision itself,” he added, as quoted by CNN. “To declare a state of emergency and send a message of war, and not peace, before a grand jury decision was announced is also wrong.”