Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose shooting of Michael Brown sparked a national controversy, told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos he feared for his life the August day he killed the unarmed teenager.
Wilson said Brown was attempting to take his gun when he shot the teen for the first time.
“I just felt the immense power that he had. And then the way I’ve described it is it was like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan,” Wilson said in a portion of the interview that aired Tuesday on World News Tonight with David Muir. “That’s just how big this man was.”
A grand jury chose not to indict Wilson in Brown’s death, a decision that sparked protests in Ferguson, Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago, New York and other cities in the U.S.
Wilson said there was nothing he could have done differently that would have prevented the death. Asked if this would have ended in the same way if Brown had been white, Wilson said it would have.
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Another section of the interview aired on Nightline Tuesday. In that portion, Willson said his training saved his life, and was responsible for Brown’s death. He said he felt bad that Brown’s family was grieving for their son.
“I did my job that day, Wilson said.
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More of the interview will air on Good Morning America at 7 a.m. EST.
Nov. 25, 11:00 p.m. Updated with information from the Nightline portion of the interview.
