Yep, his testimony is not convincing. The officer could have retreated to his SUV and called for back-up. Where was Brown to go? They could arrest him in the hospital.
It's not illegal to not return to the SUV and call for back up. The law is all that matters as far as the criminal proceedings are concerned.
NS' point was not that it was "illegal". His point was about Officer Wilson stating "there was no other alternative" during his interview. The reality is that there was an alternative and one he chose to not rely on. He made a choice. The choice led to the death of an individual who could have been spared from being fatally shot.
When cops make choices where they become executioners and alternatives do exist, it is a very serious issue. Yes, the alternative existed for Officer Wilson to remove himself from whichever threat he perceived. He was in no way cornered. In no way he had no escape route. He was dealing with an unarmed individual.The bit about his seeing Brown reaching in his pocket and he feared it could be a gun makes no sense. If Brown had been carrying a firearm, since he was portrayed by Officer Wilson as the aggressor during the struggle in the car, Brown only needed to use his own gun to harm Wilson. Since according to Officer Wilson, he was such a frightening character at the time of the struggle and Wilson feared for his life right then. I guess the supposed/presumed/suspected of possibly reaching for a gun in his pocket Michael Brown was not so threatening after all if he carried a weapon and did not use it then against Officer Wilson in the previous struggle.
Further, Officer Wilson had already called for back up. He only needed to remove himself from the perceived path of Brown who already had been shot several times. Did he confuse him for Rasputin maybe? Or maybe was that a bravado motivated choice on Officer Wilson's part while "doing his job"?
We will never know, will we? But something must change in the way some LEOs will make their choice. More training is necessary. They need to be reminded that the conscious use of lethal force against an unarmed person has to be the ultimate last resort. Officer Wilson had to know that inflicting a shot at the head meant FATAL. Only when all other alternatives have been exhausted, a fatal shot is justified. They need to be reminded that the disproportionate use of force must not be tolerated. When you have one party with a firearm and the other without, the potential for the disproportionate use of force is elevated.
This entire ordeal is heart breaking. Brown could still be alive today and learning the lesson that you never assault a cop. Officer Wilson would have spared a life had he made a different choice. No matter how robotic and composed and focused he came across in his interview, (again, product of the coaching) Officer Wilson knows he terminated a life.