The chief of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department said one of his officers suffered a "severe brain injury" and is "fighting for his life" after he was attacked amid recent protests marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, USA Today reported.

A white Ferguson officer fatally shot Brown — who was black — in 2014, after which angry leftists across America rioted, believing Brown surrendered to the officer before being shot. With that, the Black Lives Matter and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" movements were born. But the Justice Department months later concluded Brown didn't have his hands up; in fact, the officer who shot him did so in self-defense. Even far-left Washington Post op-ed writer Jonathan Capehart admitted "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" was "built on a lie." Despite all that, leftist protests, memes, and chants have persisted.

'The Ferguson Police Department since 2014 has been a punching bag for this community.'

Which brings us to what happened Friday night in Ferguson — right outside police headquarters, in fact.

Police Chief Troy Doyle said Officer Travis Brown and his colleagues were trying to make arrests after protestors damaged a fence outside the police station. Doyle said a protester charged at Officer Brown, who fell backward and hit his head on the ground, leaving him with a "severe brain injury."

Ferguson Police held a press conference Tuesday in which they released police bodycam video showing the suspect running into Officer Brown and knocking him to the pavement. Officer Brown was trying to capture the suspect:

Image source: Ferguson (Mo.) Police Department

Doyle at Tuesday's news conference said some claimed Officer Brown slipped and fell — but the bodycam says something different, KTVI-TV reported.

“If you look at the video, [Officer Brown] is standing up, waiting to catch this guy,” Doyle said, according to the station; he added that the suspect "tackled my guy like he’s a football player.”

Don Van — president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 15, which oversees the Ferguson area — said Officer Brown remained hospitalized and unconscious, USA Today reported.

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Police said Elijah M. Gantt is the protester who knocked Officer Brown to the ground. Gantt, 28, was charged with first-degree assault, resisting arrest, property damage, and two counts of fourth-degree assault, KTVI reported.

According to police, Gantt kicked another officer in the head during his arrest, the station said, adding that Gantt is being held on a half-million-dollar bond. KTVI added that other protesters are facing additional charges; one of them allegedly tried to grab an officer’s gun while Gantt was being arrested.

“The Ferguson Police Department since 2014 has been a punching bag for this community,” an angry Chief Doyle said at an earlier news conference, noting that the department did “everything the activist community has advocated for as far as body-worn cameras, implicit bias training, crisis intervention training … [so] what are we protesting? What is it? We even changed the uniforms at this police department because people said that the old uniforms triggered people. What are we doing? Ten years later I got an officer fighting for his life. It's enough, and I'm done with it. ... We want people to peacefully protest, but we damn sure ain't gonna allow you to destroy this city, and we ain't gonna allow you to hurt none of these police officers."

In addition, Ferguson police — which had just a few black officers in 2014 — is now over 50% black, said Doyle, who is also black, USA Today noted.

Officer Brown has been on the Ferguson police force since Jan. 2, Doyle noted, adding he "got into this job because he was inspired to do the right thing. He wanted to be a part of the change, he wanted to make an impact in our community, and what happens? He gets assaulted.”

But Officer Brown is no rookie: He was part of the St. Louis Police Department from August 2012 to October 2023 as a patrol and tactical operations officer, USA Today said.

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