At least two experts are questioning the authenticity of an audio file that is purported to have captured the gunshots that killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, earlier this month.
CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes and former Los Angeles police officer David Klinger both said Wednesday morning that they initially felt the recording alleged to reveal the sequence of shots fired by Officer Darren Wilson was a hoax, according to Mediaite.
"I’ve told your producers that for all I know this is something that one of Howard Stern’s punk people have been doing … I don’t have a high degree of confidence in it," Klinger said on CNN's "New Day." "I look at this and my first inclination is that someone is trying to punk CNN."
A casket containing the body of Michael Brown is wheeled out Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. Hundreds of people gathered to say goodbye to Brown, who was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/New York Times, Richard Perry, Pool)
He cited the fact that the clip emerged two weeks after the shooting as well as the curious words being voiced by a man in the audio as reasons why he doubted its authenticity, though he said he remains open to seeing whether an investigation finds it legitimate.
A man's voice can be heard in the audio telling a woman, "You are pretty. You’re so fine, just going over some of your videos. How could I forget?" The context of the remarks is unclear, though purported gunshots can be heard in the background.
And Klinger wasn't alone in his skepticism. Fuentes also said that he has qualms over the authenticity of the audio.
"When I heard this yesterday, I thought the exact same thing — it’s a hoax, but maybe not. Maybe they'll be able to authenticate it," he said.
Fuentes said that the FBI's investigation will likely include engineers at Quantico examining the audio to see if there was any dubbing and to examine whether the complete tape was delivered to CNN, Mediaite reported.
Watch their comments below:
CNN "New Day" co-host Michaela Pereira noted that an attorney — a woman named Lopa Blumenthal — had delivered the audio to the network, vouching for its authenticity on behalf of her unnamed client.
TheBlaze first reported about the clip's emergence in the contentious case on Tuesday.
(H/T: Mediaite)
