On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old, 6’4,” 300-pound, pot-smoking, thug wannabe robbed a convenience store of cheap cigars—blunts—he and his friend planned to hollow out and fill with pot, their favored method of smoking. Arrogantly walking in the middle of a street, Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson chanced upon them and asked them to walk on the sidewalk. Brown replied with obscenities, so Off. Wilson parked.
As Wilson opened his door, Brown rushed him and slammed it shut, trapping Wilson behind the wheel. Brown leaned in through the open window and savagely beat Wilson and tried to snatch his handgun. Wilson barely managed to retain it, and the gun went off during the struggle slightly grazing Brown’s hand. Brown and his friend ran.
Wilson got out of his vehicle and repeatedly ordered them to stop. Brown did, but immediately turned and made a head down, berserker charge at Wilson, who, while repeatedly ordering Brown to stop, fired multiple rounds dropping Brown at his feet with a final shot to the top of Brown’s head. He would testify that Brown’s assault was like trying to fight Hulk Hogan, and he was certain if Brown got to him again, he’d be killed.
Brown was black; Wilson was white. This was only two years after the Trayvon Martin case. Obama was POTUS and the racial grievance industry was running at top speed. Riots broke out and Ferguson property values have never recovered.
Brown’s pot-smoking pal was Dorian Johnson, then a 22-year-old loser, unemployed, living with his girlfriend and their infant daughter. The first thing he did every day was smoke pot. When he and Brown ran from Off. Wilson, Johnson kept on running to his apartment, where he immediately changed clothing and returned to the scene. There he told the lies that birthed the “hands up; don’t shoot” meme that continues to this day.
Johnson claimed Wilson not only shot Brown in the back as he was running away but executed Brown as he was on his knees with his hands up in surrender, pleading “don’t shoot.”
I’ve written about the case from the beginning at my home blog. Unlike most cases involving grand juries, the local prosecutor presented every bit of evidence, including the many outrageously false witness statements. Many supposed eyewitnesses quickly recanted, admitting they didn’t see anything. In one article of that 28 article series, I wrote of some of those witnesses and a media attempt to keep the “hands up; don’t shoot” narrative alive
A female witness so badly and obviously perjured herself during her FBI interview, she grabbed the agent’s tape recorder and tried to destroy it. NPR developed a bizarre method of determining the truth of eyewitness testimony: if a majority of witnesses said something, it must be true, even if they later admitted they lied and even if all the forensic evidence, and credible witness testimony supported Off. Wilson’s account. Fortunately, a number of black witnesses, taking considerable risks, told the truth.
Dorian Johnson’s grand jury testimony was a farce. The prosecutors were so solicitous, they nearly offered him pot and a massage. He committed all manner of perjury, and could have been charged with murder and robbery, but prosecutors, likely not wanting to worsen the explosive racial climate, never prosecuted him for his many crimes. Fortunately, the grand jury refused to prosecute Wilson for lawful self-defense.
The Obama/Holder DOJ, desperate to prosecute Wilson, had to grudgingly admit he acted entirely within the law. They couldn’t harm him criminally or civilly. They had to settle for a forced consent decree on the Ferguson Police Department. It was from this disaster “The Ferguson Effect,” and BLM were born. The Ferguson Effect refers to a nation-wide reluctance of police officers to have any contact with black criminals lest they lose their jobs, careers and liberty.
Michael Brown became an instant holy social justice martyr. The media has published primarily a single photo of Brown, a sullen, angry boy in his high school graduation robes. All other social media photos featured thuggish poses that harmed the narrative. Darren Wilson’s police career ended. He lives off the grid, employment and location unknown.
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Dorian Johnson enjoyed a brief period of social justice infamy until the media quickly lost interest in Ferguson and Johnson. Until, that is, September 7, 2025, when Johnson was murdered hotair.com/david-strom/2025/09/08/michael-browns-friend-who-invented-hands-up-dont-shoot-hoax-is-murdered-n3806580 less than a mile from where Brown died. No information on a suspect has been released.
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Justice isn’t always done. It’s certainly seldom done quickly. But in the case of Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson, it’s finally complete.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.