The hacker group Anonymous claims the Missouri police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown last summer will not face criminal charges for his death.
A grand jury is currently underway to determine if officer Darren Wilson should be indicted for killing 18-year-old Brown, whom he shot after an altercation in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9.
Citing two unnamed sources, Operation Ferguson, an offshoot of the "hacktivist" group, sent a tweet Sunday saying it can confirm the white officer will not be indicted for Brown's death.
LEAKED: Based on 2 reliable confidential sources we now confirm an imminent announcement that the Grand Jury will NOT indict Darren Wilson.
— Operation Ferguson (@OpFerguson) October 27, 2014
That tweet was followed by several others from the same account assuring the public the sources were reliable. Operation Ferguson said the grand jury decision will most likely be released after the November midterm elections.
We have been receiving very reliable leaks on this for several days. As we have always done, we chose to wait until we were sure. We are. — Operation Ferguson (@OpFerguson) October 27, 2014
The group's claims, which have not been confirmed by Missouri investigators or prosecutors, come a few days after reports revealed Wilson told authorities he struggled with the unarmed black teenager in his police vehicle before the shooting. Forensic evidence and an autopsy also supported the officer's claim that Brown reached for his gun before it went off inside the car. It's still unclear why Brown was repeatedly shot after he emerged from Wilson's vehicle.
Some experts claim the release of Wilson's interview and forensic evidence is a ploy by law enforcement to make it appear as if what happened was Brown's fault, United Press International noted.
"As a law professor I can say that this was illegal and wrong, but the prosecutor's office has denied involvement and doesn't even feel the need to investigate who leaked it," Justin Hansford, a law professor at Saint Louis University, wrote for AllHipHop.com.
At the other end, however, are those who claim the outbreak in Ferguson protests in the weeks after Brown's death were staged by people looking for something to complain about.
"These people's raison d'être is to march and express their outrage; the target of that outrage is whatever is most convenient at the time," Jack Dunphy wrote for the conservative commentary website National Review.
If the grand jury results are released next month, Missouri law enforcement are reportedly ready for another wave of possible protests if the officer is not indicted.
