Issues - BLM - Michael Brown

(CNN)

"Hands up, don't shoot" is now about more than the shooting that killed Michael Brown, but it's also not an accurate representation of the incident that sparked nationwide protests, federal investigators concluded in a report released Wednesday.

The Justice Department's investigation into Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's shooting of Brown concluded that witness accounts that the African-American teenager surrendered with his hands up "do not support the prosecution of Wilson."

The Justice Department decided not to pursue federal charges against Wilson after its investigation, it officially announced Wednesday.

Physical and forensic evidence in fact contradict claims by witnesses who have maintained that Brown had his hands up, above his waist when Wilson shot him, the Justice Department concluded.

"Although some witnesses state that Brown held his hands up at shoulder level with his palms facing outward for a brief moment, these same witnesses describe Brown then dropping his hands and 'charging' at Wilson," the report explains.

And the witnesses whose testimony did not contradict previous statements they made or the physical and forensic evidence never "perceived Brown to be attempting to surrender at any point when Wilson fired upon him."

"To the contrary, several of these witnesses stated that they would have felt threatened by Brown and would have responded in the same way Wilson did," the report continued.

So what of the witnesses who claimed Brown had his hands up in a surrender position?

Several of those witnesses recanted their initial statements and confessed they did not witness the critical moment of the shootings or provided inconsistent statements. These include at least six witnesses, according to the report.

(CNN) -- Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. Below is a timeline from both perspectives.

(CNN) -- Surveillance video reportedly shows Michael Brown in a convenience store minutes before he was shot dead by police.

Brooke: We've heard from Ferguson police that they say

he was without a doubt involved in what they call a strong arm robbery.

It's basically shop lifting but a little use of force.

Eyewitnesses Piaget Crenshaw and Tiffany Mitchell share details, and video, from the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Tiffany: “What I saw was when the cop and Michael were, like, wrestling through the window. It looked as if Michael was pushing off and the cop was trying to pull him in. Then the cop shot a fire through the window. Michael breaks away and he starts running away from the officer. The officer gets out of his vehicle and pursues Michael as he's shooting his weapon. Michael jerks his body as if he was hit and then he turns around face the officer and puts his hands up and the officer continues to shoot him until he goes down to the ground."

Piaget: "It just look like a tussle, some struggle going on, I couldn't really tell really from my angle but then I saw the police just get out and chase him down the street and shoot him down."

Tiffany: "He was trying to get away from him. Why did he continue to shoot at him..why was he killed trying to get away from the officer."

Piaget: "Even when he turned around and put his arms in the air, he was still over killed, shot multiple times."

Tiffany: "He was way behind the vehicle whenever he was fatally shot and he was facing the officer with his hands up when he went down."

(NBC News) -- Dorian: It was around 1:40, 2 o'clock. We were walking down the street, a empty street, we were just walking down minding our business. We both headed home and the officer's approaching us and as he pull up on the side of us, he didn't say freeze, hold or nothing like we were committing a crime. He said get the eff on the sidewalk.

Mike told the officer we were but not a minute away from the destination. He's at an angle where we so close to his door and him that when he tries to thrust the door open aggressively, it didn't come a inch out before it strikes both of us. His arms extended out the window, grab my friend around the neck. He didn't say step back or anything like that. He started to pull my friend into the window. So the officer's trying to pull him in and he (Michael) pulling away from the officer.

He never once attempted to grab for the officer's weapon.

He's still holding my friend with one arm and now with the other hand, he's pointing his weapon. The second time he says I'll shoot it wasn't even a second later before the gun just went off and the officer let go. And that's how we were able to run at the same time.

First car I see, I duck behind for cover because I fear for my life, I'm scared, I don't know what's going on, I don't understand why this officer is shooting his weapon at us. And I'm looking and I'm watching the officer.

He's pursuing my friend now that he fired another shot. It struck my friend in the back. Then my friend stop running, his hands immediately went in the air and he turned toward the officer face to face.

He started to tell the officer that he was unarmed and that you should stop shooting me. Before he could get his second sentence out, the officer fired several more shots into his head and chest area and he fell traumatically in a fatal position.

I did not once hear he yell freeze, stop or hold. It was horrible to watch. It hurt him a lot. I see it in his eyes it hurt him a lot. It was definitely like being shot like an animal. It was almost like putting someone to execution.

He was a peaceful person and he lived his life peaceful.

I definitely think he's guilty of murder.