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After the St. Louis County grand jury decision Monday to not indict the Ferguson officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black teen, Darren Wilson has officially resigned.
The 28-year-old, who has been on administrative leave since the incident. told the press that hopes the community will now be able to “heal” as a result of his departure.
According to his lawyer, James Towey, although Wilson has a “clean conscience,” his life might be in danger if he returns to his current job.
“I think I expressed to him, ‘Do you realize your first call [back on the job] will be to a blind alley where you’re executed?’ He took a pause for a minute, thought about it and said, ‘Oh. That is the reality’,” said Towey.
According to one of his other lawyers, Neil Bruntrager, Wilson has feared for his life since August, when a few days after fatally shooting Brown, he found out his home address was circulating online. Since then, Wilson went into hiding and has been moving from house to house to avoid been found and attacked.
“There were death threats out against him, there were bounties that had been placed upon his life,” alleged Bruntrager.
Bruntrager added, about his client leaving Ferguson police force, “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. He’s on paid leave, and there are discussions that are going right now to separate in an amicable fashion. Realistically, he can’t go back to being a police officer.”
According to the attorneys and to Wilson himself, it’s not only his life in risk but the life of other officers to, if he remains at duty.
“The first day he would be back on the street something terrible would happen to him or to someone that would be working with him. The last thing he wants is to put other police officers at risk,” said Bruntrager.
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