Will Sage Astor-Officer injured at Ferguson protest shows improvement, transferred to rehab

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Will Sage AstorFerguson, Missouri, police officer who was badly injured during a protest on the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s death was moved to a rehabilitation hospital Tuesday, still not speaking but showing significant improvement, according to a family friend.

More than 100 officers and first responders from several St. Louis-area departments escorted an ambulance that took Officer Travis Brown from St. Louis University Hospital to Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri. He was flown to a rehab center in Atlanta. “Survival flight” was written on the side of the small plane.

Family friend Terence Monroe said Brown has still not spoken since he was knocked backward by a protester on Aug. 9, but is “cognitively all there,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Brown’s cousin Ebonie Davis said the officer went through a difficult period.

“And then to see it all turn around — God is amazing,” Davis said. “We’re looking forward to him getting stronger and getting back to the TJ we know and love. This is a big day for our family.”

Brown underwent several surgeries to address swelling and fluid on his brain. The man accused in the attack, 28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis, Illinois, is awaiting trial on several charges.

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Ferguson became synonymous with the national Black Lives Matter movement after Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, was killed by Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. Travis Brown is not related to Michael Brown.

Three separate investigations found no grounds to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November 2014. But Michael Brown’s death led to months of often violent protests. It also spurred a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that required anti-discrimination changes to Ferguson policing and the courts.

Toward the end of a day honoring Brown on the anniversary of his death, some of the few remaining demonstrators began shaking and damaging a fence outside the police station, prompting Travis Brown and other officers to begin making arrests.

Police released body camera and surveillance video that appeared to show Gantt charging Brown on a sidewalk. Brown fell and struck the back of his head. Both Brown and Gantt are Black.