Darren Wilson Meets Secretly With TV Anchors, Says No To Anderson Cooper Interview
Darren Wilson has met secretly with TV anchors, according to a host of networks. The meetings in advance of the Ferguson verdict to discuss the Michael Brown shooting were all reportedly off-the-record sessions.
The TV anchors secret meetings with Darren Wilson off the record only comments about the Ferguson shooting mean no in-depth reports or insight from the police officer will be coming any time soon. Although off-the-record meetings are fairly commonplace in the television guest booking process, the Wilson meetings are being touted as significant because the Ferguson police officer has not been seen in public since the Mike Brown shooting on August 9.
TV anchors who met secretly with Darren Wilson reportedly include Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper of CNN, Matt Lauer of NBC, Scott Pelley of CBS, and George Stephanopoulos of ABC. It is not yet clear if the Ferguson police officer has agreed to do an on-the-record interview with any of the TV anchors he reportedly met with while waiting for the grand jury to hand down the Ferguson verdict.
Both Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper confirmed via Twitter that they had met with Darren Wilson.
“For the record, I met briefly with Darren Wilson a few days ago to see if he wanted to do an interview with me. That’s standard procedure,” Anderson Cooper tweeted.
Cooper allegedly decided to tweet about the Darren Wilson meeting because some online commenters who had read reports about the secret meetings with TV anchors suggested that in meeting with the Ferguson police officer, the news anchors were revealing “media bias” in the Michael Brown shooting case. Anderson Cooper also noted that he has repeatedly interviewed Mike Brown’s family and their attorneys.
“I’d also like to interview the grand jury. There is no conspiracy here. Reporters want to interview people and sometimes you have to meet them first,” Cooper added.
Darren Wilson has reportedly decided against doing an interview on CNN with Cooper.
Don Lemon also tweeted that meeting privately with Darren Wilson was not “out of the ordinary” in the TV news realm.
“We’ve interviewed the Brown family, Dorian Johnson, and all the witnesses. Of course we’d want to interview Wilson,” Lemon added.
Dorian Johnson, a friend of Michael Brown’s, was allegedly with the Ferguson teenager during the strong-arm robbery of Swisher Sweets cigars and when Darren Wilson approached the pair in the street. Johnson was previously arrested for filing a false police report.
What do you think about TV anchors meeting secretly with Darren Wilson? Will the Ferguson verdict involve and indictment in the Michael Brown shooting case?
[Image via: Lev Radin/Shutterstock.com]
