Darren Wilson Support Grows, ‘Facebook’ Pages And Fundraising Campaigns Started

As the Ferguson riots rage on at night, support for officer Darren Wilson is reportedly growing. A Facebook page entitled, “Support Darren Wilson” announced a rally for the officer who shot Michael Brown 11 days ago. The quickly organized event was held in downtown St. Louis and garnered more than 100 people.

A grand jury has been empaneled for the Mike Brown shooting case. An indictment, if a true bill is handed down, is not expected until possibly October. Attorney General Eric Holder is slated to arrive in Ferguson today to investigate possible racism and Civil Rights violations surrounding the shooting of the unarmed black teenager by Darren Wilson. Approximately 50 FBI agents have already been dispatched to the St. Louis suburb to conduct a parallel investigation of the shooting. The number of agents sent to investigate the crime has caused some backlash and questions as to why more agents were not sent to investigate the VA hospital, IRS, and Benghazi scandals as well.

The Darren Wilson supporters Facebook page garnered more than 29,000 likes between August 9 and August 19, according to CNN. A second and similar Facebook page, “I Support Officer Wilson” has attracted 33,000 likes since last Friday. Those who clicked the thumbs up symbol on the social networking platform appear to strongly dislike the comment about a “vigorous prosecution” of Wilson by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. Fox News’ Shep Smith called Governor Nixon’s press chief to determine if the leader misspoke and intended to say “vigorous investigation” since all the facts in the case remain unknown, but the representative reportedly told Smith Nixon was standing behind his utterance. The Missouri Governor also called for “justice for Michael Brown” leading some to feel the 30-year attorney who served as the state attorney general before garnering his present post, has determined Wilson is guilty without the benefit of a trial or even a grand jury indictment.

Excerpts from posts on the Darren Wilson supporters Facebook page

• “We started this page to be the voice that law enforcement did not have.”

• “It has been brought to my attention that Officer Darren Wilson had a very hard childhood and was able to rebound from that childhood becoming a police officer…. This man is a hero now and has always been a hero.”

• “This incident and the death of Michael Brown has been very hard for Officer Wilson and he is not handling it well.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Darren Wilson, 28, has been a police officer for six years. The Ferguson Police Department said there are no disciplinary issues in his employee record. Wilson was placed on paid administrative leave following the Michael Brown shooting.

During an interview with CNN, Jake Shepard, a longtime friend of Wilson’s, said:

“I can even say without speaking to Darren, without even having heard his statements, that at that moment in time, he was scared for his life, I am 100 percent positive of that. I could never imagine him even in that situation taking someone’s life … let along taking someone’s life with malicious intent.”

A Go Fund Me campaign created for Darren Wilson raised over $10,000 in less than 24 hours and now has a goal of $100,000. And a Teespring campaign, a T-shirt fundraising website, has sold 1,007 T-shirts, exceeding its goal of 1,000 T-shirts. A memorial fund set up to cover Mike Brown’s funeral expenses and to help his family had a goal of $80,000 – in five days about $90,000 was raised.

Do you think racism was a factor in the Mike Brown shooting? Can Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson get a fair trial after the extensive social media postings and coverage of the fatal shooting?

[Images Via: I Support Officer Darren Wilson Facebook page]