Michael Brown’s parents call account of events given by officer who killed him ‘crazy’

The parents of slain teenager Michael Brown on Wednesday called the account given by the police officer who shot him unbelievable, and said the officer's comments added "insult after injury."

Protests have flared across the United States after Monday's decision by a grand jury not to prosecute a white police officer for shooting dead the unarmed black teenager in August.

In his first televised interview since the incident, officer Darren Wilson said he feared for his life, that Brown resembled an angry "demon" and had started the confrontation, grabbing for his gun and later rushing toward him.

Brown's mother Lesley McSpadden, visibly emotional in an interview on NBC's "Today" show, said the officer's remarks added "insult after injury," and were "so disrespectful."

"I don't believe a word of it. I know my son far too well to he would never do anything like that. He would never provoke anyone to do anything to him and he wouldn't do anything to anybody. I don't believe a word of it," she said in a separate interview on CBS "This Morning."

"Our son doesn’t have a history of violence," she added.

His father, Michael Brown Sr., said on NBC he felt the officer's version of events was "crazy."

More from GlobalPost: These charts show just how bad gun violence is in the US, compared to developed peers

"For one, my son, he respected law enforcement," Brown said. "Two, who in their right mind would rush or charge at a police officer that has his gun drawn? It sounds crazy."

The parents' attorney also rejected Wilson's description of Brown.

"When you have people of color be killed they try to demonize and play on the stereotypes, and they try to put the police officer who killed our children on a pedestal," Benjamin Crump told NBC. "It's just not right, and we have to fix this system."

Brown's death, the aggressive police response to protests and now the result of the grand jury hearing have stirred racial tensions in Ferguson, a mainly black suburb with a mostly white police force, and across the United States.

Protests continued to rage on across the US following the grand jury decision.

Forty-four people were arrested during the second night of demonstrations in Ferguson.

By comparison, 61 arrests were made late Monday and into early Tuesday during a night of arson, looting, vandalism and sporadic gunfire that police countered with volleys of tear gas and smoke bombs.

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!