The decision to announce the Ferguson grand jury verdict after dark was met with a mixture of outrage, concern and confusion.
"The decision by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch to announce the decision at 8:30 p.m. CT was foolish and dangerous,"
wrote CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
"Here's the thing about that time of night: it's dark. Anyone -- anyone! -- should have known that the decision in the Brown case would have been controversial." Toobin wrote. "A decision not to indict, which was always possible, even likely, would have been sure to attract protests, even violence. Crowd control is always more difficult in the dark."
Prior to the announcement of the decision, local police expressed concern about waiting until after dark to reveal the grand jury's verdict.
"I've spoken to law enforcement officers tonight, and a great deal of them are concerned as to why this announcement is being made in the dead of night — because it gives the fringe element camouflage, and these officers are afraid for their own safety," said Ted Williams, a Fox News legal expert reporting from the ground for
Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"Why is this being done . . . in the dead of night?" Williams said officers were asking.
They aren't alone. Donald Trump tweeted similar sentiments:
Fox News Channel and CNN are reporting that the timing decision was made to clear the roads of rush-hour traffic and to get children home.
But critics, including
Mediaite's Joe Concha, warn that a nighttime release only invites a powder keg, because what have been called "fringe" elements have joined the protests at night, sometimes creating violence and chaos. Daytime protests have more typically been peaceful and attended by actual residents of Ferguson.
"We were told of careful planning around how exactly the grand jury's decision would go public, which included a 48-hour heads-up for the the police to arrange a final strategy and get resources in place," Concha writes. "Apparently that plan was tossed away quickly without explanation."
The family of Michael Brown also was unhappy with that change. Family attorney Benjamin Crump told Van Susteren that the family had been told it would be informed first when a decision had been made, but ended up finding out about it in the media.
Crump said the family will be told what the decision is before the prosecutor makes a public announcement, but they haven't been told how much earlier they will find out.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.