Or would the evidence corroborate Wilson’s version of events: that Brown charged him with his left hand balled in a fist and his right in the waistband of his shorts, even as the officer ordered him to stop?
The answer could explain whether Wilson had reason to fear for his life when he shot the unarmed 18-year-old, or whether he used excessive force.
Before a grand jury convened in the case, protesters and activists seized upon the idea of a young black man raising his arms in surrender, transforming it into a protest symbol that persists today. After a grand jury declined to indict Wilson, in rallies and demonstrations the phrase came to symbolize something larger than what transpired in the Michael Brown case.
“Hands up, don’t shoot” has become shorthand for police mistreatment of minorities, one that’s spreading beyond traditional protest scenes. It has evolved into a national movement with demands centered on changing what some see as systemic problems in law enforcement that lead to mistreatment of minorities.
Protesters, pro athletes, Broadway performers and congressional staffers have used the gesture in public in a show of solidarity. Last month, when nine police officers walked into a Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn, an employee raised his hands in an apparent protest of the police, the restaurant said; the officers left.
“It’s a universal symbol of surrender. It’s also a very simple gesture, and that’s part of what makes something resonate,” said Jane Rhodes, head of African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A review of thousands of pages of grand jury documents, however, does not definitively support the conclusion that Brown had his hands raised above his head when he sustained the “controversial” gunshot wound in the arm. In fact, the physical evidence does not provide a clear picture of what happened. It is open to interpretation, leaving a wide range of possibilities.
What the witnesses said
Some facts in this case are undisputed.
Around 11:30 a.m. on August 9, Wilson encountered Brown and Dorian Johnson as they walked down the middle of Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Missouri, near St. Louis. Brown soon lay dead, face-down in the street after Wilson shot him multiple times. His left arm was under his body, and his right arm was slightly out to the side.
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People tend to make the strongest symbols, especially if they are sympathetic or could be considered a victim, said sociologist James M. Jasper, author of “The Art of Moral Protest.”
“You want a person you can identify with, a normal person you don’t think of as deviant or superhuman either,” said Jasper, a professor at the Graduate Center of the City College of New York.
“If they’re too strong and autonomous, they can take care of themselves, then they don’t need you to help them.”
“Hands up” has a narrow meaning compared with the universality of “black lives matter,” Jasper said. But it’s more effective as a protest symbol because it gives people two things to do: chant and gesture.
“You want to engage people in a march, and chanting is a good way to do it,” he said. “But if you give them a gesture to make, that’s even more energizing and absorbing.”
Protesters in New York invoke a lot of slogans and chants to motivate crowds, said Binijuktya Sen, who helps organize marches there. “Hands up, don’t shoot” is among the most common because it’s easy to do.
It speaks to a number of concerns related to police brutality — mainly the disparity between how blacks and whites are treated in the eyes of the law, he said.
“The reason the gesture is so powerful is because it does not signify aggression,” he said. “It speaks to the concern that people, even when they submit themselves to police, they’re still subjected to violence.”
CNN’s Eve Bower, Chris Boyette, Amy Drake and Amy Roberts contributed to this report.
