Graphic new footage shows Ferguson Police Officer Travis Brown being violently knocked to the ground by an unruly protestor — a hit that left him still fighting for his life with severe brain injuries days later.
Brown, 36, was dispatched with his fellow officers Friday to arrest a number of troublemakers who were trying to rip down a police fence as a demonstration commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the shooting of black teen Michael Brown devolved into chaos.
In the footage released by the department — which included clips from officer bodycams and nearby security cameras — Officer Brown was seen circling behind a minivan to cut off 28-year-old suspect Elijah Gantt as officers pursued him.
As Brown positioned himself between the end of the van and a wall, Gantt appeared to suddenly change directions and charge straight for the officer.
Brown was thrown hard to the ground, slamming the back of his head on the pavement as Gantt tripped on top of him and officers surrounded them.
As Gantt was pulled away, Brown lay motionless on the ground, only feebly lifting an arm at one point as officers tried to help him.
“This guy tackled my guy like he’s a football player,” Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said during an emotional press conference Tuesday.
Brown remains in “serious critical condition” since the assault, the chief said, brushing off with apparent disgust a suggestion raised at the press conference that he and Gantt may have merely collided.
“The officer is standing there waiting to catch this guy. It wasn’t a collision,” Doyle said.
Gantt — who is not from Missouri but travelled to the demonstration from East St. Louis, Illinois — was previously charged with first-degree assault for the alleged attack on Brown, and has now also been hit with fourth-degree assault for allegedly kicking another officer in the head during the struggle.
Several other suspects were charged for property damage and assault — including one who allegedly tried to steal an officer’s gun from their holster during the scrum.
Before violence broke out, footage showed how Ferguson police had cordoned off the street outside their department so demonstrators could safely protest in peace.
But as the night progressed, the increasingly unruly crowd turned its attention to the fence surrounding the police department and tried to tear it down.
“As you can see they don’t look peaceful to me. It looks like people are trying to break into our police station,” Doyle said, pointing out how Gantt appeared to be egging the crowd on with a megaphone.
Eventually officers were ordered to make arrests for property damage, and the footage showed them calmly entering the crowd before pandemonium broke out.
Doyle previously lashed out at demonstrators in a fiery press conference over the weekend, expressing exasperation for the way officers have been treated.
“The Ferguson Police Department since 2014 has been a punching bag for this community,” Doyle said, explaining that the department had done “everything the activist community has advocated for” since the 2014 Michael Brown shooting, in which the unarmed teen was killed by a white officer.
“Body-worn cameras, implicit bias training, crisis intervention training … we even changed the uniforms at this department because people said the old uniforms triggered them,” he said.
“So what are you protesting?”
Gantt is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond, charged with assault of a special victim, resisting arrest and property damage. He has a bond hearing set for Aug. 19, which will be followed by a preliminary hearing Sept. 11.
He does not yet have an attorney.
