Activist Dorian Johnson Shot And Killed In Ferguson

Dorian Johnson, the friend who was with Mike Brown when he was shot and killed by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, is dead at the age of 33. 

According to KSDK, officers responding to an 8:30 a.m. call found Johnson shot. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his wounds. Johnson was killed not far from the street where Brown was killed 11 years ago. 

Police did tell the media a suspect has been taken into custody, and charges are being sought through the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, but no further information regarding the suspect or a positive motive were provided. 

Both KSDK and St Louis Public Radio report that there were earlier rumors of police involvement in the shooting, but Ferguson Police Department Public Information Officer Patricia Washington was quick to shut that down, saying the investigation into Johnson’s death is ongoing. 

Dorian Johnson was just 22 years old when he witnessed the shooting death of his 18-year-old friend on Aug. 9, 2014. 

It was Johnson’s explosive remembrance of how his friend was killed that put him front and center of the brewing resistance movement that grew in the wake of the killings of both Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin.

As the Washington Post reported in 2019:

“He put his hands in the air,” Johnson said of Brown in his final moments. “He started to get down, but the officer still approached with his weapon drawn. And he fired several more shots. And my friend died.”

The killing of Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, became one of the most incendiary events in American history, exposing deep divides over race and justice and helping to spark a national movement for police accountability. Johnson’s assertion that Brown was trying to surrender when Wilson killed him spawned that movement’s most powerful rallying cry: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

Johnson went on to file a lawsuit against the City of Ferguson, Darren Wilson, and the former Chief of Police. The suit was dismissed by an appeals court in June 2019. 

Dorian Johnson is just the latest prominent activist from Ferguson to die at a young age in the last ten years.

Deandre Joshua, 20, was found in a torched car with a gunshot wound to the head in November 2014. Nearly two years later, 29-year-old Darren Seals was found dead inside a burning car in September 2016, his body riddled with bullets. Police said MarShawn McCarrel, a Ferguson activist originally from Ohio, shot himself on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in February 2016. 

Edward Crawford Jr., who became famous when a photograph of him tossing a tear gas canister back at police during a protest went viral, fatally shot himself in May 2017.

Danye Jones was found hanging from a tree in his own yard in October 2019. His mother, Ferguson activist Melissa McKinnies, maintains that her son was lynched. 

Black men and boys deserve to grow older. They deserve to live without fearing for their lives just because they exist. 

Rest in power, brave Brother Dorian. 

Our condolences are with Dorian’s family. 

This is a developing story. 

SEE ALSO:

Witness To Michael Brown Shooting Sues City Of Ferguson, Darren Wilson

Dorian Johnson, Witness To Michael Brown Shooting, Arrested A Day After Announcing Lawsuit Against Ferguson