>> on "america tonight": a special report. ferguson, decision. the grand jury's announcement, will anyone face trial for the death of unarmed teenager michael brown gunned down by per darren wilson. >> our shared hope is regardless of the decision, people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restraint. >> will the decision ignite a new round of protest and

response from the police? and "america tonight" special report, ferguson decision. and good evening and thanks for joining us for this "america tonight" special report. i'm joie chen. we are waiting now for a news conference from missouri near ferguson. an announcement due at any moment on whether the grand jury will return an indictment in the shooting of michael brown. michael brown's family community leaders even the president of the united states have all pleaded for calm no matter what the grand jury's decision is. while law enforcement has been beefing up for what could be a very difficult night. you can see outside the courthouse there in clayton, missouri, where the decision will be read, the grand jury will not be there, they have

already been dismissed but a large crowd is gathering there. this is a community near ferguson, missouri but where the county seat courthouse is. we have seen the scenes of ferguson reaching the flash point and brought back down to the simmer. whether it can be kept there is hard to say. the decision is due at any moment. "america tonight's" lori jane gliha is outside the courthouse. lori jane you have seen the anticipation building there as well. >> yes, joy, the anticipation has been growing since the prosecutor has announced several hours ago that the grand jury came up with a decision. we are stepping up to a time we will hear the decision. the journalists will ar be waitg to hear what the announcement is. outside here there has been a small crowd growing, it still

looks empty behind me but off to my left, a group of people, standing there waiting to hear what's going on. it's a different scene across town where there has been several dozen people that have gathered in the streets. we've seen the protests building over the last few days, everybody waiting to see whether darren wilson will be indicted or not. just to tell you about the grand jury, they were actually meeting long before the mike brown shooting happened. they were meeting in may and hearing other cases then the mike brown shooting happened in august. the grand jury meets for about four months in missouri but the judge extended them. they had until are september 27th. they have been listening to this case, the unique part of this case is that they have been hearing every piece of evidence the prosecutor had vowed to bring multiple witnesses to the table to present every piece of

information so they could make a true decision on whether or not to diegh indict this officer. they will be deciding among various charges, first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter, that takes all the way up to life without parole. i know there is a lot of anticipation, the protesters out here and the police have all been preparing, having their own meetings, the protesters have been discussing what to do, if they feel like they're in danger, if they want to go to a safe hairch, wha haven, what toy feel threatened. the police have been learning more about first amendment

rights, 14th amendment right, they have been meeting together, and tonight a unified force, we have heard from both sides, really the goal is to keep the peace. safety is a priority. tonight we also heard from the governor who came out and spoke. are he held a press conference. the st. louis mayor was also at the press conference. all of them saying all over again, we want to keep the peace, practice safety, practice restraint. peacefully assemble. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha. we ask you to stand by. al jazeera's john terret is outside the police station in ferguson. there's quite a large crowd gathered there waiting as well. john terret, considering how

large that crowd is in ferguson they seem fairly restrained. john terret? john terret is standing by there for us. obviously there is quite a scene outside the ferguson police department. but they are waiting to hear the answer as well. there are a number of folks who have been watching very closely in all this and we've alternated osome legal concerts as well, ariva martin not only has her legal background and also her personal experience, she has deep roots in the community, she joins us from los angeles. looking at it as a native and as a lawyer ariva, the sense you must have of the anticipation that's happening in that community right now. >> joie, i'm a little bit disturbed about how the rollout is happening. i started getting texts that the

dprur was having a decision yet -- grand jury was having a decision yet ten hours later no report from the district attorney. one of the central themes of the aftermath of the shooting has been the trust, and the lack of trust as it relates to the ferguson police department. so you know continuing to wait, waiting until it gets dark, waiting until it gets bitter cold in st. louis to make this announcement i think is just adding to this level of anxiety and distrust. >> ariva, over the last few days there have been anticipation, so the grand jury had to report before the thanksgiving holiday. people have been waiting even from last week. >> some of the waiting is adding to the anxiety, causing more fear than is necessary. so we've seen a lot of mistakes being made by the governor, by

the you know local prosecuting attorney and by the local officials in that town. and again i think we can't underestimate how distrustful that community is of the law enforcement and the policing agencies. as i talk to people at home everyone believes there won't be an indictment and in some ways they have been just led down this road only to be let down. and a lot of people's mind this was very predictable because african americans never get dealt with fairly by the ferguson police department. >> ariva, you know this is an interesting situation with the county prosecutor robert mccullough, he does have personal history, his father was a law enforcement officer who was killed when he was a very young man and there has been questions about his ability to handle the with fairness. his solution was he was going to present to the grand jury a really very unusual situation. having them hear all the witness testimony almost as if this were a trial.

>> it was almost that he advocated his responsibility -- an did i caiblghted his responsibility. so if there's -- abdicated his responsibility. if it wasn't me robert mccullough, but the 12 grand jurors. many felt his situation was his own fault, to force robert mccullough to be removed from the case and to appoint a special prosecutor. i think we're going to hear about that more and more and more if there's not an indictment and the question about whether he could have ever been fair in this case. >> what do you envision? as you say a lot of people do anticipate that the grand jury will not return an indictment against anybody in this. what do you anticipate is going to happen here? >> well, i'm encouraged by a couple of things joie. one i'm encouraged by the coalition building, by nonprofit

organizations, by social justice organizations coming together and putting together a plan. so the protesters at this time, is not going to be these organic protests, but planned civil disobedience. beyond the protests, i think people want to think about not just the ferguson police department but police departments across this country dealing with african american men. ferguson is a jumping off point. it gives us an opportunity to have a big discussion around race and african american men in criminal justice system. my hope is beyond the protest we do things that make a difference in the communities like improve the school system, create more jobs -- >> and create a relationship, better relationship between the community and law enforcement, on that point. >> absolutely. >> john terret is standing among the protesters there and john there are quite a lot of them. john terret can you hear us?

john terret can you hear us john terret? >> yeah, hi. >> hi john it's joie in washington. can you talk a little bit about that crowd around you now? it is really swelled to quite a group but peaceful to this point. >> hey joie we've got a lot of loud music going on here and the crowd at the moment is waiting with anticipation to see what the grand jury decision will be. let me take you on a tour. ben our cameraman will swing the camera over. show you what's happened. on florison road here, this is bigger than normal. normally there's one or two people during the day and sometimes the crowd swells to maybe 50 people in the evening. on wednesday and thursday of last week, police were using

heavy handed tactics. and the man in charge of public safety had to justify their action. now, tonight, as we wait for the decision to be handed up by the grand jury, there's probably i would think got to be four, 500 people here now. earlier on, they marched across the road and pushed away the police barriers outside the fergs police headquarters. that -- ferguson police headquarters, they are there behind the crowd now on the other side of the barrier. just watching what goes on here. they're not wearing riot gear or anything like that but they do have with them straps they use to handcuff people, the minute they are arresting. all leave has been cancelled in ferguson, the officers are working 12 hour shifts, from 6:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night and 6:00 at night until

6:00 in the morning. there was someone in the crowd, accused by the crowd of being a member of the kkk. well something on the line of, the crowd circled him and there was quite a bit of tense moment or two. at the moment. >> all right that's john terret force us outside the ferguson police department. as you can imagine, it is quite loud there, quite a large crowd has gathered he said in the neighborhood of several hundred people have gathered which we can certainly see. we are looking inside, this is in clayton, missouri, the local county courthouse that covers the area that includes ferguson. we are standing by for the announcement, statement to be read by the st. louis county prosecutor robert mccullough about the decision of the grand jury whether they return any indictment at all in this case. standing by for us outside the courthouse is "america tonight's" lori jane gliha who has watched all this develop over the last days and weeks

going back to the first days after the sheeting of michael brown. irnlg llori jane, we are going o ththe chowrs as soon chowr cour. we are anticipating a statement that will take quite a few minutes. he will read whatever the decision is from the grand jury and we anticipate that that will be read out. in addition, there has been information from the st. louis county prosecutor's office that he does intend if there is no indictment, he does intend to release all of the testimony and other information that the grand jury has looked at in the course of their weeks of examining and investigating this. as "america tonight's" loirnlingslori janegliha has tod quite a few days looking at the

evidence and talking to the witnesses as well. this is an unusual situation in st. louis county in that the grand jury is allowed without the prosecutor in the room to question the witnesses themselves, to pose their questions and seek additional information. almost as if this were a trial without a prosecutor or defense attorney in the room. given the circumstances the st. louis county prosecutor made the decision to go ahead and do this and we're standing by to wait to hear what the grand jury has decided on that. "america tonight's" lori jane gliha standing by outside the courthouse as well, where you say there has not been quite as big a crowd, lori jane? >> yes, you know what, it's much different than what john terret is experiencing, i can tell through my ear piece that it's much less over there -- >> lori jane we're going to have to interrupt you. we're going to hear now from his announcement here in the

courthouse. >> first and inform most i'd -- and foremost i'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family of michael brown. regardless of the circumstances, they lost a family member, and theiring sadness knows no bounds. michael brown was killed by officer darren wilson. within minutes accounts filled with speculation and little if any solid accurate information. almost immediately, neighbors began gathering and age are began growing because of the various descriptions of what had happened, and because of the underlying tension between the police department and the significant part of the neighborhood. the st. louis county police conducted an extensive investigation at the crime scene. at times under very trying circumstances interrupted at least once by random gun fire. beginning that day and continuing for the next three

months, along with, they, along with the agents of the fb federl bureau of investigation at the direction of attorney general eric holder gathered additional evidence and information. fully aware of the unfounded and growing concerns of some in our community that the investigation and conclusion of this tragic death, i decided all the physical evidence gathered all the people claiming to have witnessed any or part of the shooting would be presented to the grand jury. grand jury of 12 members of this community selected by a judge in may of this year, long before this shooting occurred. i would like to briefly expand upon the unprecedented cooperation between the local and federal authorities. when attorney general holder first announced the federal investigation just days after the shooting he pledged that

federal investigators would be working with local authorities as closely as possible at every step of the way and follow facts wherever they take us. as general holder and i both promised, following the trail of facts with no preconceived notion of where that trail would take us, only that our investigation would be thorough and complete to give the grand jury the department of justice and ultimately the public all available evidence to make an informed decision. all evidence obtained by federal authorities was immediately shared with st. louis county investigators, likewise, all evidence gathered by st. louis county police was immediately shared with the federal investigators, conducted investigation of the physical evidence and performed its own autopsy. another autopsy was performed at the request of the brown family and all of this information was also shared. just as importantly all testimony before the st. louis county grand jury was immediately provided to the

department of justice. so although the investigations are separate both the local and the federal government have all of the same information and evidence. our investigation and presentation of the evidence to the grand jury in st. louis county has been completed. the most significant challenge encountered in this investigation has been the 24-hour news cycle and its insatiable appetite for something for anything to talk about. following closely behind with a nonstop rumors on social media. i recognize of course that the lack of accurate detail surrounding the shooting frustrates the media and the general public and helps breed suspicion major those already distrustful of the system. yet those closely guarded details especially about the physical evidence give law enforcement a yardstick for measuring the truthfulness of witnesses. eyewitness accounts must always be compared against the physical evidence.

many witnesses to the shooting of michael brown made statements inconsistent with other statements they made and also conflicting with the physical evidence. some were completely refuted by the physical evidence. as an example before the results of the private autopsy were released witnesses on social media during interviews with the media and even during questioning by law enforcement claim they saw officer wilson stand over michael brown and fire many rounds into his back. others claim officer wilson shot michael brown in the back as mr. brown was running away. however, autopsy results showed michael brown suffered no wound to the back of his body. several witnesses adjusted their stories in subsequent statements. some even admitted they did not witness the event at all but merely repeated what they heard in the neighborhood or others or had assumed hpped.

punishes had happened. fortunately for the integrity of our investigation, element all witness interviews including those of officer wilson were recorded. the statement of the testimony of most of the witnesses were presented to the grand jury before the autopsy results were released by the media and before several media outlets published information and reports that they received from the d.c. government official. the jurors were therefore prior to the time that release information going public and what followed, in the news cycle, the jurors were able to have already assessed the credibility of the witnesses, including those witnesses whose statements and testimony remained consistent throughout every interview, and were consistent with the physical evidence in this case. my two assistants began presenting to the grand jury on august 20th. the evidence was presented in an organized and orderly mearnl. orderly manner.

the jurors gave us a schedule of when they could meet. all 12 jurors were present for every meeting and examined every bit of evidence. until today the grand jury worked tirelessly to examine and reexamine all of the testimony of the witnesses and all of the physical evidence. they were streld engaged in the process -- extremely engaged in the process. requesting specific testimony of the witnesses and specific evidence and asking for specific evidence. they met on 25 separate days in the last three months, heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witness he and reviewed hours and hours of recordings of media and raw enforcement interviews from many of the witnesses who testified. they heard from three medical examiners, and blood, toxicology

and firearm evidence. they examined various pieces of physical evidence. they were instructed on the law and presented with five indictments ranging from murder in the first degree to involuntary ma manslaughter. their probable cause to believe that a crime was commitmented and that darren wilson is the person who committed that crime. there is no question of course that darren wilson caused the death of michael brown by shooting him but the inquiry does not end there. the law authorizes a law enforcement officer use deadly force in certain situations. the law also allows all people to use deadly force to defend themselves in certain situations. so the grand jury considered whether wilson was the initial aggressor, in this case, or whether he was -- or whether there was probable cause to believe that darren wilson was authorized as a law enforcement officer to use deadly force in this situation, or if he acted in self-defense.

i detail this for two reasons. first, so that everyone will know that as promised by me and attorney general holder there was a full investigation and presentation of all evidence and appropriate instruction of law to the jury. to the grand jury. second, as a caution to those in and out of the media who will pounce on a single sentence or a single witness and decide what should have happened in this case based on that tiny bit of information. the duty of the grand jury is to separate fact from fiction. after a full and impartial and critical examination of all the evidence and the law and decide if that evidence supported the filing of any criminal charges against darren wilson, they accepted and completed as monumental responsibilityi respa conscientious and expedited manner. they are the only people who

have heard and examined every witness and every piece of evidence. they discussed and debated the evidence among themselves before arriving at their decisions. the grand jury deliberated over two days making their final decision. they determined no probable cause exists to file any charge against officer wilson and returned a new true bill on each of the five indictments. the physical and scientific evidence examined by the grand jury combined with the witness statements supported and substantiated by the evidence tells the real and tragic reality of what happened. the physical evidence that presented to the grand jury follows. please note as promised the evidence presented to the grand jury with some exceptions and the testimony of the witnesses called to the grand jury will be released at the conclusion of this statement.

at approximately 11:45 a.m. on saturday the 9th of august ferguson police officer darren wilson was dispatched to the north wind apartment complex for a emergency involving a two month old infant having trouble breathing. at approximately 11:53 while still at the north winds call, wilson heard a radio broadcast for a stealing in progress on a market on north florison. included a brief description of the suspect, a black male in a white tee shirt who took a box of swisher cigars. officer wilson remained with the mother and infant until ems arrived to transport the infant to the hospital. he drove west on kahnfield towards florison. wearing red hat yellow socks

khaki shore shorts and with anor male. michael brown and a companion were in the local convenience store on west florison. michael brown's activity in that store was recorded by the store's security cameras. the video often played following its release in awg august, by te ferguson police department, showed michael brown heading out of the store. after crossing west florison the two walked east on can field in the middle of the street, mr. brown directly behind his companion. as officer wilson continued west on can field he encountered mr. brown and his companion still walking in the middle of the street. as he reached mr. brown he told them to move to the sidewalk. words were exphaing exchanged ay

continued walking down the street. wilson observed that michael brown had cigarillos in his hand. approximately 12:02 p.m. wilson radioed and said he had two individuals and needed assistance. blocking their path and blocking the flow of traffic in both directions. several cars approached from both east and west but were thaibl to pass the police vehicle. afternoon altercation with wilson seated inside during the altercation, two shots were fired by officer wilson while still inside the vehicle. mr. brown ran east on can field and officer wilson gave chase. near the corner of canfield and copper creek, mr. wilson turned

back towards officer wilson. as michael brown turned towards officer wims, several other shots were fired by the officer and michael brown was fatally wounded. within seconds of the fatal shot, the assist car arrived. michael brown and his companion and the arrival of that assist car. during the investigation many eyewitnesses were interviewed by media outlets. several other witnesses chose not to talk to the media but contacted law enforcement immediately. interviewed, all statements were provided to the other party. all previous statements of witnesses, who testified before the grand jury were also presented to the grand jury whether they were media interviews or whether they were interviews by the fbi or by the county police department. the statements of all witnesses civilian, law enforcement and

experts were challenged of course by other law enforcement by the prosecutors and by the grand jurors themselves. the common and highly effective method of challenging a statement is to compare it to the previous statements of the witness for consistency and to compare it with the physical evidence. physical evidence does not change because of public pressure or personal agenda. physical evidence does not look away as events unfold. nor does it block out or add to memory. physical evidence remains constant. and as such is a solid foundation upon which cases are built. when statements change, witnesses were confronted with the inconsistencies and conflicts between their statements and the physical evidence. some witnesses admitted that they didn't actually see the shooting or only saw a part of the shooting or only repeating what they had heard on the street. some others adjusted parts of their statements to fit the facts. others stood by original

statements even though their statements were completely discredited by the physical evidence. several witnesses describe seeing an altercation in the car between mr. brown and officer wilson. it was described as tussling, wrestling, a tug of war or just some movement. several other witnesses describe mr. brown as punching officer wilson while mr. brown was partially inside the vehicle. many of the witnesses said they heard a gunshot while mr. brown was still partially inside the vehicle. at least one witness said that no part of mr. brown was ever inside the vehicle, and that the shot was fired through an open window, while mr. brown was standing outside. the vehicle and officer wilson's clothing and equipment were examined by various technicians and scientists. mr. brown's blood and or dna were located on the outside of the driver's door. his blood and dna were also found outside the left rear passenger door of the police

vehicle. mr. brown's blood or dna was found on the inside of the driver's door. the upper left thigh of officer wims's pant leg, the shirt and on officer wilson's weapon. additionally, a bullet fired by officer wilson's weapon was found inside the door. downward angle at the arm rest. the second bullet was not recovered. regarding the gunshot wound the mr. brown it should be noted that the three separate autopsies were conducted. one by st. louis county medical examiner's office, one by a private pathologist and one by the department of defense armed forces medical examiner. the results of all three autopsies are consistent with one another in all significant respects. mr. brown has a gunshot graze wound of the right thumb. the path of that bullet is away

from the tip of the hand. soot consistent with a close up -- close range gunshot is present inside that wound. officer wilson also had a medical examination which indicated some swelling and redness to his face. almost all witnesses stated that after they heard the shot fired while mr. brown was at the car he hesitated and then ran east on canfield. most stated that almost immediately officer wilson got out of his vehicle and chased after him. some witnesses stated wilson fired at mr. brown as he chased after him, stating that one of those shots instruct mr. brown. others stated he did not fire until mr. brown turned and came back towards officer wilson. at least one witness stated that

as officer wilson got out of the vehicle he shot mr. brown. stuck his gun out the window and fired at mr. brown as mr. brown was running. one witness state thread were actually two vehicles and two officers present but only one officer fired a weapon. most agreed that near canfield and copper creek mr. brown stopped and turned around facing officer wilson. some said mr. brown did not move toward officer wilson at all but was shot multiple times as he stood near the corner with his hands raised. in subsequent interviews with law enforcement or their testimony before the grand jury many of the same witnesses acknowledged that they didn't actually see the shooting. some were running for cover. some were relating what they heard from others or as i said what they assumed happened in that case. so other witnesses maintained their original statement that mr. brown had his hands in here

and was not moving towards officer when he was shot. others said he was shot -- several witnesses saited that mr. brown did not raise his hands at all or that he raised them briefly and then dropped them and turned towards officer wilson who then fired several rounds. other witnesses stated mr. brown stopped for a very brief period then moved towards officer wilson again. one describes his movement towards officer wilson as a full charge. according to some witnesses officer wilson stopped firing when mr. brown stopped moving towards him and resumed firing when mr. brown started moving towards him again. these witnesses did not make any statements to the media. the description of how mr. brown raised his hands or the position of his hands is not consistent among the witnesses. some described his hands as being out to his side, some said in front of him with his palms

up. others said his hands were raised near his head or by his shoulders. still others said they were by his chest or down by his stomach. others described his hands being in a running position or in fists. there are also various witness statements regarding mr. brown's movement after he stopped and turned back towards officer wilson. several witnesses said mr. brown never moved towards officer wilson and was shot where he stood at the corner. most said that the shots were fired as he moved towards wilson. mr. brown's movements were described as, i said on one walking moving fast stumbling or full charge. like other aspects of this case the varying descriptions of the case were sometimes provided by the same witnesses in subsequent statements or testimony. the entire area was processed by the st. louis county crime scene unit. total of 12 rounds were fired by officer wilson. two shots at the car, ten more

shots further east on canfield. mr. brown sustained a graze wound the his thumb while standing next to the vehicle. he sustained six or sefnl sevene gunshot wounds depending upon whether one of the shots was an entry or reentry wound. mr. brown sustained a second graze wound to his right biceps. he also sustained wounds to his upper forearm, lateral right chest upper right chest forehead and top of the head. the top of the head forehead and perhaps the upper right chest were consistent with his body being bent forward at the waist. accept for the first and last wounds, the medical examiners are unable to determine the order of the shots. the dpraiz wound to the thumb sustained at the vehicle is likely the first wound. it was the only close range shot. the shot to the top of the head

was most likely the last. it would have rendered him immediately unconscious and inexapincapacitated. 153 feet east of officer wilson's car. mr. brown's blood was locateapproximately 25 feet further east past his body. a nearby tenant near a video chap inadvertently captured the final shots. there were a string of shots, followed by a brief pause followed by another string of several shots. as i stated earlier, the evidence and the testimony will be released following this statement. i'm ever mindful that this decision will not be accepted by some. and may cause disappointment for others. but all decisions in the criminal justice system must be

determined by the physical and scientific evidence, and the credible testimony corroborated by that evidence. not in response to public outcry or for political expediency. decisions on a matter as serious as charging an individual with a crime simply cannot be decided on anything less than a complete critical examination of all available evidence. anything less is not justice. it is my sworn duty and that of the grand jury is to seek justice and not simply obtain an indictment or a conviction. i do want to say that during this extremely tense and paifnl time thapainful time that we hae citizens of this community should be and are mindful of the whole world watching and how we react. the loss that was suffered by the brown family no young man should ever die, this is a loss of a life and it's a tragic loss

rarlsdz of the circumstances. but it's opened old wounds and has given us an opportunity to address those wounds. as opposed to the past when they just fade away. for how many years have we been talking to issues that lead to incidents like these and after a period of time it just fades away. i urge everybody who is engaged in the conversation who is engaged in the demonstrations to keep that going, to stay with that. not to let that go. and to do it in a constructive way, a way that we can profit from this, a way that we can benefit from this, by changing the structure by changing some of the issues by solving some of the issues that lead to these sorts of things. i join with michael brown's family and with the clergy and with anyone else and everyone else, the naacp and the bargain league and every government official and every private citizen that you've heard in urging everyone to continue the

demonstrations, continue the -- continue the discussion, address the problems. but do so in a constructive way. and not in a destructive way. so i have time for a few questions now. i'll just kind of start over here. yes, sir. gentleman in the black sweater. >> tell us whether the grand jury made this decision unanimously and can you also tell us whether you presented any charges, recommended any charges to be brought by this grand jury. >> to the first question of whether they -- the vote. the grand jury by statute is not allowed nor am i or anyone else allowed to ask or to discuss the vote or the deliberations themselves. the grand jury is a very secret process and it should be in order to protect -- to protect that secrecy. so the people can come out and

talk about and speak freely in there. jury deliberations whether in the grand jury or trial jury they're not recorded. and in a trial of course they are unanimous but by statute the grand jury is not allowed nor is anyone allowed to ask what the verdict -- i'm sorry what the vote was nor are they allowed to or anyone allowed to ask what the discussion was. the opinions expressed by the other grand jurors. i didn't present, no. my two assistants did all of the presentation in the grand jury. we prepared as their legal advisors of course as we do in every case potential charges for that and presented in this case we presented five charges, five indictments to them. yes, sir. >> i heard you describe some very problematic witness statements do any rise to the level of you going after perjury charges? >> no, i think there are a number of witnesses in all honesty that truly believed what they said. and the ones who were consistent throughout, even in the face of

their testimony being in conflict with the physical evidence that was there, i think they truly believed that that's what they saw. but they didn't. so no. some of the others, yes. we're making it up but they all pretty much acknowledged that they saw parts and then made up other things . yes ma'am. kate. >> bob, there have been many that have been critical of this process calling it a secret trial. do you regret taking this to the grand jury, do you wish there were a coroner's jury some other forum for presenting this evidence? >> no not at all. i certainly don't regret taking this. i think it was a good decision to take this to the grand jury. we presented to this, to this grand jury as i detailed in here. all the evidence that there possibly could be all of which will be available, all of which will be available and available as we finish this tonight. so everyone will be able to

examine that same evidence and come to their own conclusion. that's the only thing i'd urge, i know people aren't going to go home and read everything that was on there and make a decision based on that. but you need to keep in mind that these grand jurors poured their hearts and souls into this process. their term was scheduled to end in early september. they gave up their lives, they put their lives on hold, put their families on hold, they put everything on hold so they could come in and do their civic duty and it was a very emotional process for them. i met with them before any evidence started to tell them what the process was going to be. and i met with them today, after their decision. and i can tell you just how emotional and how draining it was for each and every one of them. so to suggest anywhere, anyone suggesting that, that somehow, you know, it's just not a full and fair process, it's just unfair to these people. they poured their hearts and souls into this.

yes, ma'am. go right next to you after that. >> i hand it right over i promise. can you tell us anything more about the grand jury? we've heard some basic demographics mainly race and sex. can you tell us anything more the ages or sexes, the way the sexes voted? >> i really can't. the information the judge allowed to be released on the makeup of the grand jury. what i can tell you, i'm not speaking too far out of line is that when the judge, any judge picks a grand jury they're looking for a cross section of st. louis county. and i will say that almost any demographic category you can come up with is going to be represented on that grand jury. various ages, income, where they live, how they live, retired, not retired, still working, blue collar, professional, almost anything you can think of is going to be on that grand jury. and they tend to be that way

across the -- across the spectrum. we have three a year. yes, ma'am. >> sir were there any african american witnesses who testified that michael brown was coming towards the officer when brown was shot? >> yes. all the -- the ones that i mentioned specifically about -- the ones that i mentioned specifically were all african americans, that -- the one who indicated that he was -- came at him at a full charge and that as officer wilson fired shots at him, mr. brown stopped, and officer wilson stopped shooting and as mr. brown started charging at him again those were his words his testimony mr. wilson started shooting again. so the others who had very consistent stories not just with each other or not just their stories or their testimony throughout, but they were consistent with the others, several others, they're all african american. yes, sir. >> i wonder if you can tell us a

little bit about officer wilson's testimony and perhaps his status tonight? >> i have no idea what his status is. but his testimony was, again it was in the packet that will be released, his testimony and you know these are questions a lot that were asked by the grand jurors, questioning him and challenging him on why he didn't use lesser force why he didn't run away and rather than get into the specifics of it i will say that he did testify that he was sitting in the car and was punched by mr. brown. all of that from his version is out there. i specifically didn't do that because i -- in any case, the target or the suspect is -- has the most interest in the case. and so we don't put a whole lot of stock in, let you here from them but don't put a whole lot of stock or can't rely solely on that testimony. so yes, sir. the blue shirt.

>> you mentioned that there's video of the final ten shots. would that be released with the rest of the evidence that you're releasing tonight? >> i assume that microphone is going somewhere but is not here. >> you mentioned there was video of the final ten shots, would that be released in the evidence? >> there is not video, there's audio, if it's not we'll get the audio out, yes, sir. kevin. >> i want to ask you a question, imagining what the people who are protesting tonight might say, said look this jury had nine whites on it three blacks. you had a reputation right or wrong of being pro-police. what do you say to somebody who might be out there who thinks it wasn't justice. how do you boil it down, why is this justice the outcome? >> it's hard to boil down everything. i.t. has -- it has to be based on all the evidence, you can

take out witness here a witness there and come to a different conclusion they'll have the ability to look at every witness that was put on and all ul the testimony i understand some people have made up their minds both ways and are not going to change their minds. what i would urge them to do is express those feelings, express them in a constructive way and try to make them in such a way that nothing ever happens again. yemeyes, ma'am. >> you just explained that we need to work on issues that this things will never happen again. can you explain what those fixes are that need to happen, whether or not police should shoot somebody whose hands are at their stomachs, at their sides or up in the air and they are unarmed? >> it's difficult to answer, in fact impossible to answer because there are so many

variables that play into every case. there's no real way to answer a question like that. so you have to look at every bit of information and every case that comes in. the idea i hope is to avoid ever being in that situation. yes, sir. >> mr. mccullough, as a person who has had his record questioned by members of the community in cases that have happened in the past, how do you feel making this announcing this decision and what message do you think it sends to the community that says that they have had numerous members of that community, young, predominantly black males, killed by police with impunity, what kind of message do you think this decision says to them? >> well a much better message than what you're saying that young men being killed with impunity. they are not being killed with impunity, we have young white men who tragically have been killed by police officers in situations and we look at each

and every one of those and hopefully learn from each and every one of those how to avoid being in that situation in the future whether it's a justified shooting. so i think that's what has to go and i think what the people in the community, they need to make their voices heard. and they need to address those issues, so we get those issues so we're never in this position again. yes, sir. >> i think people looking at this from around the country are going to be struck by the fact that there is not a single law in the state of missouri that protects and values the life of this young man who unquestionably was shot and killed dead. there's po dispute about that -- there's no dispute about that by the police officer. what do you say to people who wonderfuwonderful, is there somg wrong with the laws that allow this to happen, after it happens we move on essentially, is this really justice or is there something wrong with the laws in the state that would say this is okay?

>> you know, it's another question that really i don't have an answer to that question. that what's wrong with the law? there are no laws to protect this. every law out there is to protect the safety of every individual regardless of their age and regardless of their race. if the laws aren't working we need to work to change.them. that is all the -- that is in the all the way but that is what we should be doing and that's where this needs to go from here. yes, sir. >> you have been accused by some of passing the buck, standing back and placing this in front of the grand jury without taking a stand. isn't that what you were elected to do, to take a stand in this case? >> there isn't anyone in the system, as far as the checks and balances in the system that no one office no one individual has the ultimate or absolute authority. if charges were filed in this case, as are filed in other cases the cases would still go to a preliminary hearing or to

the grand jury. there still has to be a probable cause determination. no one can just file a charge and go directly to a jury trial. that just cannot happen. and we have an obligation to present the evidence. i don't know how anyone can say it was -- you know we're passing the buck by gathering all this information and evidence and meeting with the grand jury. it's something we do on a weekly basis, we do it day in day out, week in week out. certainly not passing the buck. yes, ma'am, back in the corner there. >> hi, can you gufer the specific vote -- give the specific vote breakdown, and federal charges are they still a possibility outstanding? >> neither can i nor the grand jurors reveal that. the investigation is still ongoing. they have all the evidence that we have, they had it when we got it. when we finished a day of grand

jury testimony within a day or two that was in the hands of the department of justice. they did an interview within hours that was in the hands of the department of justice. so they will conduct their interview, their investigation, as we did. they're looking at different types of laws obviously and different violations. so when they'll complete that, i have no -- i have no sniegd intt into that. yes, sir. >> did any witnesses refuse to testify and if so how was that handled? >> i didn't hear that last part. >> if any witnesses refused to testify how was that handled? >> there were a few witnesses who were not brought in. they were witness he who you know, one didn't make a statement, there were a couple who just disappeared. we spent a lot of time searching for them and with the assistance of the fbi but were unable to locate a couple of them. so none of the information

though in one case i think we had a statement from the witness, it wasn't presented to the grand jury. i think there were a couple of them. yes, ma'am. only have time for a couple more here. >> you said officer wilson's description of brown's movement towards him as a charge. was there any other evidence that might have led the grand jury to conclude wilson had reasonable cause for the use of deadly force? >> again i think you have to have -- i'm not privy to the deliberations and so i can't say what they saw as highly significant or not. but they had all the information and they were charged with and they were told that here's what the law requires that you consider all of the information and the information. so it's not just -- in most cases it is not just one bit of evidence that says all right, that's it, that's all we need to hear. it's everything that is presented which is why we wanted to make this as complete and thorough as possible.

yes, ma'am. >> what justification are you going to be using to release the grand jury evidence? there is some dispute as to whether a court order is going to be needed what you say -- >> this night's coverage, we are actually hearing from a long statement from the st. louis county prosecutor robert mccullough, outlining what happened with the grand jury and its decision not to return any indictment not finding probable cause for any indictment of the five charges presented as possibilities for them. the grand jury decided not to have any indictment against officer darren wilson, though everyone acknowledges that his gun and his shooting is what led to the death of young michael brown in ferguson, missouri in august. some statements coming in already from darren wilson's toarches saying that fodarren ws does not end. he will continue to be concerned

about his family' family's secu, still not the end from him. comment of the family of michael brown. we are profoundly disappointed that the killer of michael brown will not be facing answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction, appropriate time for us to bring in al jazeera's john terret who is outside the ferguson police department. john we saw as mr. mccullough was speaking some clashes, cuss telcanyou tell us what happened outside the ferguson police department? >> joie, outside somebody brought a very, very large set of speakers, the crowd worked

out, no indictment, no indictment. some members of the crowd went over and charged the police they came out from where they were behind a barricade wearing riot gear and all was calm, just for a while some stones were thrown. somebody threw a gas mask at the police and water balls were thrown. and fireworks were set off for a while here. that got people riled and they are marching through ferguson to pay their respects to mike brown, the memorial where he died. things are calm here right now. >> all right, john terret, we are watching at the top of the hour, we do expect to hear from the president of the united states, giving his reaction, of the ferguson police not to diet, michael brown killed on august 9th, igniting what we call flash point ferguson and the

protests that took place there. we will continue to watch and observe all of this we are standing by as the president gets ready to speak and watching also as well at ferguson at the police department where john terret tells us there were some angry clashes, there were some angry expressions right after the announcement was made. but that, at this point, the crowd seems to be dispersing relatively quietly. you see calm outside the ferguson police department following the request of the family of michael brown and so many others including the president of the united states who is going to be speaking in just a few moments giving his reaction to the decision in ferguson and the st. louis county grand jury's decision. we'll continue to follow and hear what the president has to say right after this.

a >> good evening i'm antonio mor" a news conference just wrapped up where the st. louis coirchlt prosecutor announced that the grand jury decided not to indict darren wilson for the shooting of michael brown. >> they determined that no probable cause exists against officer wilson and not return a true billga