A source inside the department, reported, by Fox News, believes so:

Missouri cop was badly beaten before shooting Michael Brown, says source

by Hollie McKay

Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department’s top brass told FoxNews.com.

“The Assistant (Police) Chief took him to the hospital, his face all swollen on one side,” said the insider. “He was beaten very severely.”

According to the well-placed source, Wilson was coming off another case in the neighborhood on Aug. 9 when he ordered Michael Brown and his friend Dorain Johnson to stop walking in the middle of the road because they were obstructing traffic. However, the confrontation quickly escalated into physical violence, the source said.

“They ignored him and the officer started to get out of the car to tell them to move,” the source said. “They shoved him right back in, that’s when Michael Brown leans in and starts beating Officer Wilson in the head and the face.”

The source claims that there is “solid proof” that there was a struggle between Brown and Wilson for the policeman’s firearm, resulting in the gun going off – although it still remains unclear at this stage who pulled the trigger. Brown started to walk away according to the account, prompting Wilson to draw his gun and order him to freeze. Brown, the source said, raised his hands in the air, and turned around saying, “What, you’re going to shoot me?”

At that point, the source told FoxNews.com, the 6-foot-4, 292-pound Brown charged Wilson, prompting the officer to fire at least six shots at him, including the fatal bullet that penetrated the top of Brown’s skull, according to an independent autopsy conducted at the request of Brown’s family.

Some statistics:

• In 2012, there was some 12 million arrests in the United States;
• 34,000 arrests per day, average;
• In 99.9% of those cases, the suspect was not killed by the police;
• 400 fatal police shootings are reported in this country per year;

But here is the statistical kicker:

• 91% of black homicide victims are killed by other blacks;

And, of course, all of the facts are not yet in yet; despite this, the American Media Maggots and the Race Pimps have already convicted Officer Wilson and are calling for his hanging.

Finally:

I have to hand it to Ferguson PD — they have missed cues and screwed the pooch whenever possible in terms of managing the media and managing the situation.  Theirs was a primer on what not to do in terms of handling a critical incident of a sensitive nature.  This should certainly be a teachable moment for that department, and I can only hope they have learned what it means to be tarred and feathered in the media — and how to avoid that in the future.

BZ