‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ creator caught in fatal shooting in Ferguson

Dorian Johnson

The man who created the inaccurate but much-used Black Lives Matter slogan “Hand’s up, don’t shoot” after Michael Brown rushed a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, 11 years ago, and was shot and killed, now has died in a shootout, which didn’t involve police.

Dorian Johnson, claimed that his friend, Brown, had been compliant and accommodating when he confronted that officer, the officer who ultimately shot and killed Brown in self-defense.

A commentary at Twitchy explained, “The man whose lies helped propel BLM, causing death, riots, and destruction, has died in a fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2014, Dorian Johnson witnessed his friend Michael Brown rush a police officer in Ferguson. The officer fatally shot Brown in self-defense. But before the truth finally came out, lies were spread about the killing by Johnson, which created a national media-fueled outrage that was driven on by the later-debunked ‘Hands up, Don’t Shoot’ chant and narrative.”

Johnson died in a shooting not involving police only blocks from where Brown died.

“Posters are not missing the irony that a person who sparked an anti-police crusade died by the very violence that more policing could have helped prevent,” the report said.

“Guess they decided his black life didn’t matter. That happens a lot in  rampant black-on-black crime. When the Brown shooting happened, ‘journalists’ and their fellow Democrats, seeing the opportunity to push a false narrative, jumped at the chance to do so. They helped spread the ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ hoax nationwide.”

BREAKING: Friend of Michael Brown who helped sparked the debunked ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ BLM narrative, has been fatally shot in a non-police-related incident. pic.twitter.com/TExXN99YfR

— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) September 8, 2025

Michael Brown’s Friend Dorian Johnson – The Man Behind the ‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot’ Lie – Is Shot Dead in Ferguson, MO – 11 Police Officers Were Killed Following ‘Hands Up’ Hoax pic.twitter.com/lKpKlYTvUQ

— Trump2024_no_matter_what (@TexasTrump2024) September 8, 2025

The irony writes itself. One of the guys who helped launch the biggest anti-police lie of our time “hands up, don’t shoot” didn’t get taken out by cops, but by the same street violence BLM glorified. Lies catch up.

— MAG1775 (@realMAG1775) September 8, 2025

A report by CNN said Johnson, 33, died in a shooting early Sunday morning at a block of apartments.

The investigation continues, although police said one person already is in custody.

Brown was 18 at the time he was shot by policeman Darren Wilson, a white man, on August. 9, 2014.

Wilson argued he shot Brown in self-defense as Brown charged at him. Johnson said he was a witness to the shooting and that there was a confrontation during which Brown was shot in the hand.

The report said, “Moments later, Brown moved back toward Wilson and the fatal shots were fired, according to federal investigators. Johnson said Brown had faced the officer with his hands up in surrender, but that assertion has been hotly contested, and a Justice Department investigation found that other witnesses ‘gave varying accounts of exactly what Brown was doing with his hands as he moved toward Wilson,’ including balling up his fists and pulling up his pants.”

Johnson’s claim about the events sparked that “hands up, don’t shoot” mantra that was used over and over by extremists across the nation.