"I had the opportunity last evening to review the video of the incident. What I saw in this incident is not what people portray," Hoskins said during a press conference. "This is not, as we say, you know, black lives matter. This was not the case. You could not compare this with Ferguson or the Garner case in New York."
Although initial reports said that Martin was unarmed, St. Louis County Police later confirmed that the teen pointed a handgun at the officer.
"We have the video. I can assure you that what is on the video is what we are going to use," Hoskins said. "Our goal is to project the truth to the residents."
Public outrage and protests against police brutality in the United States were ignited by a recent grand jury decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson, who in August shot dead an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, St. Louis County.
Protests were fuelled all the more by another grand jury decision not to bring charges against police officer Daniel Pantaleo, also white, who choked to death African American Eric Garner in July in New York.
