ABC News aired the first portion of George Stephanopoulous’ exclusive interview with Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, and during it Wilson said that there was nothing he could have done differently to prevent the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The police officer recounted the events that led up to Brown’s death, rejecting accounts by some witnesses that he pulled Brown into his police car and that — after the initial confrontation — Brown put his hands up in surrender before the cop shot him.
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Wilson described the aggressive Brown as a “very powerful man” over whom he could not gain control.
“The way I’ve described it is, it was like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan,” Wilson recalled of the moment when he attempted to grab Brown after enduring several punches from the inside of his police car.
The officer also confirmed that the incident was the first during which he ever fired his gun.
“Is there anything you could have done differently that would have prevented that killing from taking place?” Stephanopoulos asked after hearing the full account from Wilson, to which the cop responded plainly, “No.”
“And you’re absolutely convinced, when you look through your heart and your mind, that if Michael Brown were white, this would have gone down in exactly the same way?” the ABC News host followed.
“No question,” Wilson replied.
As he seeks a “normal life” with his wife following the announcement that he will not be indicted in Brown’s death, Wilson said that he does have a “clean conscience” following the incident.
“The reason I have a clean conscience is because I know I did my job right,” he affirmed.
