Attorney General Eric Holder says that he is beyond exasperated — he is “mad,” in fact — at the leaks pouring out of the investigation into the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Holder even went so far as to advise those responsible for leaking the information to “shut up” in a public interview at the Washington Ideas Forum on Wednesday.
“I think that somebody, these leakers, have made the determination that they’re trying to somehow shape public opinion about this case,” Holder told The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart.
“And that’s inconsistent with the way in which we conduct investigations, and especially grand jury investigations which are supposed to be secret.”
The leaks include claims that the grand jury weighing whether to press charges against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson has been provided with evidence that the officer fired two shots inside of his car during a struggle with Brown and that blood was found on Wilson’s gun. That would seem to support Wilson’s claim that Brown attacked him.
Another leaker claimed that seven or eight African-American witnesses have provided testimony to the grand jury that supports Wilson’s version of events. Those witnesses are reportedly afraid to come forward publicly with their information.
Brown’s official autopsy was also leaked to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Two forensic pathologists who analyzed the results told the paper that the autopsy appeared to support Wilson’s claims. They said that Wilson had shot Brown in the hand, a finding which led one examiner to suggest that Brown might have been reaching for Wilson’s weapon. The same examiner also said that the autopsy results suggested that Brown was not holding his hands up in a surrender position, as some witnesses have claimed.
“This notion of leaking out selective information, which started as early as release of that tape…the convenience store. And then these leaks about what happened in the car. These are all the kinds of things that I think are inappropriate. I’ve said I’m exasperated. That’s a nice way of saying it. I’m mad,” said Holder, who recently announced that he will leave the Department of Justice.
