Record of the Press · 2012–Present
Released to the public · 31 OCT 2026File TBL-0007
DEBUNKED

"Hands up, don't shoot" in Ferguson

18 AUG 2014 · NPR, Cable and national news broadly
Screenshot of the page as published at npr.org
EXHIBIT A — Page capture from npr.org. Click to open the source.

■ The claim

After Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, coverage widely relayed witness accounts that Brown had his hands raised in surrender when he was killed, which became the rallying cry of the protests.

■ What actually happened

A March 4, 2015 Justice Department investigation concluded the surrender accounts were not credible: some conflicted with physical and forensic evidence, some witnesses recanted, and credible witnesses said Brown was moving toward Wilson. The DOJ declined to charge Wilson. Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, who had embraced the slogan, wrote that it was built on a falsehood. The DOJ separately documented a pattern of racial bias in the Ferguson Police Department.

■ The proof

The Justice Department's March 4, 2015 report on the shooting of Michael Brown.

■ Original reporting

■ Corrections, findings & records

■ Wayback Machine copies

Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.

Who it helped: DemocratsBecame the founding slogan of a protest movement aligned with the left.

■ Grade

DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →