Pharrell Williams Says Michael Brown Was 'Asking For Trouble', Displayed Unacceptable Behavior
Pharrell Williams, the 41-year-old record producer and artist, believes that 18-year-old Michael Brown showcased bullyish behavior before being shot to death by Ferguson, Miss police officer Darren Wilson last August.
While protests have been sparked in cities across the country after a grand jury announced that Wilson would face no charges for shooting Brown dead, many celebrities have spoken out against what they believe to be an unfair ruling. Countless celebrities have spoken out against a black unarmed teenager being killed by a white police officer, but Williams offered a different perspective.
After a video surfaced of Brown stealing cigars in a strong arm robbery from a local convenience store just minutes before his untimely death, Williams questioned the dead teenager's behavior.
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"It looked very bullyish; that in itself I had a problem with," Williams told Ebony magazine. "Not with the kid, but with whatever happened in his life for him to arrive at a place where that behavior is OK. Why aren't we talking about that?"
Although the entertainer insisted that Wilson should have faced charges for killing Brown, he believed the teenager was also asking for trouble.
"I believe that Ferguson officer should be punished and serve time. He used excessive force on a human being who was merely a child," Williams told Ebony. "He was a baby, man. The boy was walking in the middle of the street when the police supposedly told him to 'get the ---- on the sidewalk.' If you don't listen to that, after just having pushed a store owner, you're asking for trouble."
Still, Williams believes that Brown did not deserve to lose his life.
"But you're not asking to be killed," Williams said. "Some of these youth feel hunted and preyed upon, and that's why that officer needs to be punished."
Wilson, who claims Brown attacked him and tried to grab his gun, insisted he was only doing his job on the day Michael Brown was killed.
"I just did my job. I did what I was paid to do and that was my job," the police officer told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I followed my training, the training took over, the training led me to what happened. I maintained the integrity of this investigation, and that's it."
