‘Stranger Fruit’ Filmmaker Slams Media and Ferguson Police Over Michael Brown’s Death

Filmmaker Jason Pollock defended the newly surfaced footage about Michael Brown’s death during an interview with CNN on Monday.

Pollock, whose documentary, Strange Fruit premiered at the South by Southwest Festival on Saturday, claims the new security footage featured in the documentary points to a cover-up of evidence by the Ferguson police, and misinformation campaign to paint Mike Brown as a bad person.

At 1 a.m., the night before Brown was shot, “you can clearly see Michael Brown walking into the store, you see him then make an exchange. he trades a little bag of weed for two boxes of cigarillos,” Pollock said when CNN host Brooke Baldwin questioned him about the video segment.

Ferguson Mike Brown
FERGUSON, MO – NOVEMBER 24, 2014: Silhouette of a police officer standing amid flames after riots broke out in Ferguson, Missouri on November 24, 2014. (shawncarrie / Shutterstock.com)

“We see a trade take place,” he said. “The security tape in question then shows Michael Brown handing the cigarillos back to store employees for what Pollock says is safekeeping until he returns the next day. Towards the end of the video, it appears that Brown goes back to the store the following morning. Pollock has implied that Brown went back to pick up his cigarillos.

“Don’t tell me that he stole from the store if they handed him a bag [of cigarillos] that they created themselves … anybody who sees this with their eyes can see what’s happening,” Pollock continued.

Critics of the video footage accused him of doctoring the video footage.

“I can now confirm that the uncut video shows the clerks throwing [the bag of marijuana] back to Mike Brown. The filmmaker edited it out,” said a statement said by Jay Kanzler who represents the store and their employees.

Pollock followed up by saying, “There isn’t another video. Bring it on! Bring it on, Jay. Bring it on!”

Pollock also called out the police department officials for what he argued was an attempt to cover up evidence.

“[St. Louis County Chief of Police] Jon Belmar gave a statement that he didn’t know about [the new footage],” Pollock said. “Well, Chief Belmar, it’s in your report. So either you don’t read your report, or somebody’s lying.”

Pollock added, “So the real question now is: who knew about this video, when did they know about it, who did they talk to, who covered it up, who wrote the wrong report, and how high up the chain does this go?”

Pollock also criticized the media when he was asked about how he was able to find the video footage.

“Brooke, I got my hands on this tape because I decided … to do real investigative journalism because I was tired of watching how the news was reporting this issue,” Pollock said.

Pollock then criticized the media for how it handled Donald Trump’s Presidential election.

“And we wonder how Donald Trump got elected – a man who lies 60 to 70% of the time. The media could have done its job,” Pollock said.

You can watch the full interview below.