Michael Brown smeared by lies on the Internet

This video from the USA says about itself:

Nancy Grace Stuns With Her Shocking Michael Brown Opinion

1 December 2014

“There’s nothing here, not even a bruise.” Nancy Grace gives her blunt analysis on Darren Wilson’s testimony. Several attorneys have commented on the way St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch conducted the non-prosecution “against” Wilson and Wilson’s testimony. Grace is known as someone who is always defending the actions of police officers. Not this time.

Grace: ”The grand jurors are like sheep, they’re babes in the woods. The prosecutor’s duty is to seek the truth. I am telling you that the prosecutors, if they want an indictment, they will get an indictment. When I went to a grand jury, I went to the grand jury on each case because I believed the offense had been committed and I had the right guy or the police had the right guy, and I went in there to present our evidence. If I didn’t think there was a case I would never have gone to the grand jury. You don’t use the grand jury to achieve your personal gain, to achieve what you want them to do. You go in to get a true verdict.” The Young Turks hosts John Iadarola (TYT University) and Ben Mankiewicz break it down.

By Bill Keeler in Utica in the USA:

[Video] Michael Brown Beating An Elderly Man?

January 1, 2015 10:43 PM

A video depicting a younger Michael Brown (the teen who was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer sparking riots and protests across the country) beating an elderly man over a stolen backpack has been sweeping social media; but, is it really Michael Brown?

According to Snopes.com, a website that fact checks stories, photos and videos that are circulated across the web, the video is not that of Brown. Snopes says that not only is the video not Michael Brown; but, the belief that Facebook removed it because ‘it doesn’t want this story to go public’ is also false.

“On 9 December 2014, a Facebook user named Shawn Spall posted a video purporting to be footage of Mike Brown (the teenager shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri) brutally assaulting a much older man over the theft of a backpack. The source of the video was not disclosed by its original poster, and later the same day that user either removed or restricted the video after it had been shared tens of thousands of times.”

Snopes goes on to present the facts of the video which brought their investigators to the conclusion that it does not depict Michael Brown. One key piece of evidence included is that the video was taken at an apartment complex in Dallas, TX., a place where Michael Brown never lived. Another is the skin tone of the subject in the video as compared to that of Brown, not to mention that Brown at the time the video was taken would have been much taller.

Still, in this age of social media and bloggers, the story has gone viral. It’s being spread through Facebook and by bloggers who are presenting it as the ‘Michael Brown video they don’t want you to see,’ as if, the mainstream media or the government is trying to keep people from seeing the video.

The fact is, the story connecting the video to Michael Brown is false and no matter where you stand on the issue, most will agree that spreading false information is not beneficial to either side of a debate.

Here’s the message that’s being circulated on Facebook:

The gentle GIANT Yea?

A MUST VIEW

Attached is a video taken from a cell phone, showing how Michael Brown…..(yes, the one and the same)….treats a senior black male. This 300 lb. young boy (that’s what media calls him) is the same Michael Brown that attempted to take a gun away from a police officer and paid with his life. Here is the fellow that all of the riots are about. Videos don’t lie. You will not see this in the media. Pass this around so the truth can be known. It needs to be seen!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, the Grand Jury got it ALL WRONG.

Read the complete ‘fact check’ story from Snopes here.

Also, consider these websites to fact check a story before you share it in order to make sure the news you’re spreading is real.

Snopes – Snopes fact checks everything from celebrity and political stories to urban legends.

Fact Check.org – A Project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center which focuses on politics and public policy makers.

Who What When – WhoWhatWhen is a database of key people and events from 1000 A.D. to the present. Create graphic timelines of periods in history and of the lives of individuals.