FERGUSON, MISSOURI — Surveillance video footage has emerged that may shine a new light on the events leading up to the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown two-and-a-half years ago. <br /> <br />Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Wilson later claimed that he feared for his life. <br /> <br />Protests following Brown’s death turned violent and focused the attention of the nation on strained relations between the black community and the long arm of the law. <br /> <br />According to the cops, Wilson shot Brown as he resisted arrest and became aggressive in connection with the earlier robbery of a convenience store. <br /> <br />But evidence presented in a new documentary suggests Brown had reached an understanding with clerks at the store just 11 hours prior to the alleged robbery. <br /> <br />Surveillance footage shown in the film “Stranger Fruit” appears to confirm that Brown exchanged a bag of weed for several packages of cigarillos with the store clerks at 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, the New York Times reported. <br /> <br />The video shows Brown leaving the store, but then appears to change his mind. He then gives the cigarillos back to the clerks to stash behind the counter. <br /> <br />Filmmaker Jason Pollock presents compelling evidence in the documentary that the cops were aware of this encounter. <br /> <br />However, the police only released later surveillance footage, which appears to back up their claim that Brown robbed the convenience store. <br /> <br />Pollock and Brown’s mother said the new footage proves Brown did not steal the cigarillos and was the victim of a misunderstanding. <br /> <br />Pollock claims the cops deliberately sought to destroy Brown’s character with their selective release of the CCTV footage. <br /> <br />However, a lawyer for the convenience store insists that Brown stole the cigarillos. <br /> <br />A county grand jury and federal civil rights investigators cleared Officer Darren Wilson of criminal wrongdoing over Brown’s death. He then resigned from the police force. <br /> <br />Wilson, the city of Ferguson and the former Ferguson police chief are all respondents in a civil trial brought by Brown’s parents that’s due to start next year.
