Injured Ferguson officer shows ‘small but significant’ signs of progress in Missouri

FERGUSON, Missouri — A Ferguson, Missouri police officer was seriously injured during a protest marking the 10th anniversary of The Death of Michael Brown is showing “small but significant signs of progress” after suffering a serious brain injury, according to a post on a GoFundMe page set up to support the officer and his family.

Travis Brown36, has undergone several surgeries and other procedures since his attack on Friday to treat swelling and fluid on his brain, the statement said. As of Thursday morning, more than $78,000 had been donated through the GoFundMe site.

“Over the past few days, we have seen some small but significant signs of progress – three coughs and slight movements in his leg and hand. These moments, although brief, filled us with hope and joy,” the statement said. “Today, doctors checked TJ’s brain activity and the results were encouraging. While we have been told the road to recovery will be long and challenging, we remain hopeful.”

Hundreds of people gathered in Ferguson on Friday to remember Michael Brown. By midnight, only a few dozen protesters remained, and some of them began shaking and damaging a fence outside the Missouri city’s police station, prompting Travis Brown and other officers to make arrests.

Police released Tuesday bodycam and surveillance video shows a suspect, identified as 28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis, Illinois, running over Brown on a sidewalk, knocking him backward. The video shows Brown landing hard, his head hitting the sidewalk. Both Brown and Gantt are black.

Separate footage from Brown’s body camera, released Wednesday, shows his shadow cast on the side of a building and the shadow of another person colliding with him. The camera suddenly pans upward after Brown falls to the pavement. An officer crouches over Brown and repeats his name, apparently to get a response, as he says “officer down” into his radio and calls emergency medical services. He yells at people to stay away from the scene.

Amidst the yelling and screaming, someone says, “He fell on his head.” About a minute later, officers grab Brown’s legs and move him. There are audible shouts of “Watch his head” and “Support his head.”

You hear someone say, “Come on, TJ,” followed by, “TJ, you’re good, buddy.” He is lifted into a patrol car.

“TJ look at me. Look at me. What day is it?” someone asks him. He doesn’t answer. The patrol car drives away.

Gantt is charged with assault and is being held on $500,000 bond. He does not yet have a lawyer listed.

Ferguson became synonymous with the national Black Lives Matter movement after Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, was killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the St. Louis suburb on August 9, 2014. Travis Brown is not related to Michael Brown.

Three separate studies have shown no grounds to prosecute Wilsonwho resigned in November 2014. But Michael Brown’s death led to months of often violent protests. It also led to a U.S. Department of Justice research which required anti-discrimination measures to be taken in Ferguson’s police department and courts.

Travis Brown is the son of a retired St. Louis police officer and the father of two young daughters. He worked for the St. Louis County Police Department for 11 years before joining the Ferguson department in January, part of a wave of black officers hired into the department since 2014. “He wanted to be part of the change,” said Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle.

The GoFundMe page is raising money to help pay for expenses and support Brown’s children, according to an earlier posting. Brown is called “a devoted father, son, brother, uncle, godfather and friend. A man of strong faith, his heart is as big as his smile and his positive energy is truly infectious.”