FERGUSON, Mo. – The Ferguson Police Department has released body camera footage from Officer Travis Brown while he and other officers responded to an August 9 protest near department headquarters that culminated in Brown suffering a serious brain injury.
Brown is currently hospitalized in critical condition. He was hurt during a protest outside the Ferguson police headquarters while a crowd marked the 10th anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown Jr., whose death became part of a national push to reform policing and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.
Prior to the release of Officer Brown’s bodycam video on Wednesday, the Ferguson Police Department shared other videos, including business surveillance footage that allegedly showed a suspect tackling Brown, during a Tuesday news conference. Investigators say Brown was previously sent to the scene to make arrests.
The suspect, Elijah Gantt, 28, of East St. Louis, has been charged with first-degree assault and fourth-degree assault amid the investigation.
The Ferguson Police Department released a 7-minute, 8-second video clip of bodycam footage. The first two and a half minutes of the video show Brown listening to remarks from officers, walking with a group of officers and walking near a crowd of people. Some of the early portions of the video are muted.
Around the 2:40 mark, the video appears to show Officer Brown making remarks to others, including “Cut that way” to people running away from a white SUV. Around the 2:50 mark, the video appears to show Brown knocked down to the ground after he ran around the right rear side of the SUV.
The rest of Officer Brown’s released bodycam video shows other officers and first responders offering aid to Brown after the assault.
Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said that the August 9 protests began peacefully. The department blocked off parts of the street earlier in the day so people could demonstrate and march to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown Jr. Throughout the night, the peaceful protest became agitated as individuals began shaking a police station security gate late Friday evening.
Just before 11:50 p.m., Officer Travis Brown was dispatched as part of an arrest team to detain protesters who broke the police station security gate.
Police played video from a security camera across the street during a Tuesday news conference, allegedly showing Gantt charging at Officer Brown and sending him to the ground on the sidewalk. Investigators say Brown had attempted to stand in front of Gantt to make an arrest.
Brown, 36, joined the St. Louis County Police Department in 2012 and was dispatched to Ferguson during the 2014 protests. He joined the Ferguson Police Department in January 2024.
