The transcripts above seem to destroy the
media narrative that has been published over the past couple of days.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. On Monday, the newspaper ran a lengthy piece titled “Michael Brown remembered as a ‘gentle giant.’” The piece, by Elisa Crouch, stated, “Teachers described Brown as a ‘gentle giant,’ a student who loomed large and didn’t cause trouble.” Crouch then dropped the hammer: “Some joined the crowds of mourners and protesters who had gathered there since the shooting in protest of how Brown had died: black, unarmed and from multiple gunshots.” Crouch’s piece was syndicated to multiple other publications, including the Chicago Tribune.
Al Sharpton. Sharpton, who jetted onto the scene in Ferguson, Missouri, as quickly as humanly possible, described Brown as a “gentle giant.” He then used the death of the “gentle giant” to proclaim to Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, “We've got to solve the problem, and we've got to make the criminal justice system work for people like Michael Brown, otherwise we're not the country that we claim to be.”
Daily Kos. Over at the left-wing site, a writer described Brown thus:
Mike was a big guy who his family called their "Gentle Giant." He was built to be a high school football player – direct from central casting – but Mike was too timid for the sport. According to friends and family, he had never been in a fight in his life. And, of course, it logically follows that Mike Brown had never had a criminal record or a single run-in with the police. He lived with his parents and threatened and intimidated no one.
The Daily Mail. On Wednesday, Daniel Bates of the UK paper wrote, “He was a 'gentle giant' – timid and quiet yet 6ft 4 tall and 300lbs – raising the possibility that the cop who killed him may have been intimidated by his size… Eric Davis, Michael’s cousin, described him as a 'big gentle soul'.” Bates also quoted Michael’s aunt, who stated, “He wasn't a violent person. He was peaceful. He was a gentle giant. He looked like he could really do something but he wouldn't.” Bates concluded by implying that the police department was racist: “It is overwhelmingly African-American, but all save three of the 53 police officers in the town's force are white, including the chief.”
The Washington Post. On Tuesday, Wesley Lowery and Todd Frankel of the Post reported on the “gentle giant,” using the phrase as a subheading in a larger piece about Brown’s graduation from high school:
“We called him the gentle giant. He was a gentle giant,” said Charles Ewing, Brown’s uncle. His family tried to get him to play football. Brown was too timid for the sport, Ewing said. “He had never gotten into a fight in his entire life,” said Duane Finnie, a family friend… It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. Not for Mike Brown.
CNN. CNN ran the headline “Michael Brown, teen shot by police, days before college.” That piece, by Catherine Sholchet, painted a glowing, pacifistic picture of Brown: “Family members nicknamed him the ‘gentle giant’… And he was proud to be setting an example for his younger siblings.”
