Cops Now Investigating Michael Brown's Stepdad

Investigation into Louis Head's actions the night of Nov. 24 under way: police chief
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2014 1:24 PM CST

As President Obama urged peace in the moments after it was announced Darren Wilson wouldn't be indicted in the shooting death of Michael Brown, chaos broke out in Ferguson—and now police there are investigating whether Brown's stepfather meant to start a riot himself. Louis Head was seen in a New York Times video after the decision embracing Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, then yelling, "Burn this motherf---er down" and "Burn this b---- down," CNN reports. Police Chief Tom Jackson says that although no charges have been filed against Head, people who know and were with Brown's stepfather on that day have been interviewed (Head himself has not). Jackson made similar statements to Sean Hannity yesterday, though he stressed that it wasn't yet a formal investigation.

Brown family attorney Benjamin Crump tells CNN that Head's statements were "indefensible" and "not appropriate in any way" and that "we don't condone people acting on emotion calling for people to do irresponsible things at all." However, he also mentions that Brown's parents asked for protests to stay peaceful and that people shouldn't come down on them too hard for being emotional when they heard the news. "We want [Michael's] family, his mother and father's message to come across louder than anybody who might be associated with them. ... They can't control what others do." Jackson said today that "multiple law enforcement agencies" were taking part in the probe, notes CNN, and they're not singling out Head. "Everyone who is responsible ... every single one of them needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he says. (More Michael Brown stories.)

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