Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Ferguson….continued.




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Another night has passed in Ferguson MO. The press were kept from covering a lot of what happened. More tear gas, more arrests. Peaceful nighttime protests are stymied.

But my “quote of the day” came from Attorney General Eric Holder:

“I realize there is tremendous interest in the facts of the incident that led to Michael Brown’s death, but I ask for the public’s patience as we conduct this investigation. The selective release of sensitive information that we have seen in this case so far is troubling to me. No matter how others pursue their own separate inquiries, the Justice Department is resolved to preserve the integrity of its investigation. This is a critical step in restoring trust between law enforcement and the community, not just in Ferguson, but beyond.

Yes.

We should all be troubled by the bs we see leaking out of Ferguson. Efforts to smear Michael Brown and divert the focus from the pursuit of justice continue.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 45 Comments

45 comments

  2. JanF

    And CNN should be ashamed of itself for saying that her third hand account had been corroborated by a source in the police department. Now people who want to rebury their heads in the sand have their narrative complete: drug-addled teenager beats up old lady in convenience store and steals cigars then continues on to beat up a poor defenseless cop just doing his job of protecting and serving. Case closed! Now, who is on Dancing with the Stars?

    Attorney General Holder will see that the FBI investigation is conducted with integrity but I am not sure how far it can go. I suspect that some of the damning evidence will have been “lost” which will make it more difficult. One woman (who questioned parts of the friend of the girlfriend’s account) said she had photos from the confrontation and that her camera had been turned over to the police as evidence. The hairs on the back of my neck went up at that.

    The St. Louis County prosecutor will be convening a grand jury tomorrow (Wednesday) to examine the evidence against Darren Wilson and see if charges are warranted. I hope that when they decline to indict him that the feds are ready with their civil rights violation case so that the new outrage over white justice for white officers is short lived. Although probably by this time everyone involved can see the writing on the wall and will just sigh and move on.

  3. JanF

    I watched it on my TV. He looked exhausted and not just a little ticked off.

    No transcript yet.

    I want to know why a black president has to answer for “his people” but a white president is never called to task for what people of his race do? It is grossly unfair. I was glad to see that President Obama did have the opportunity to talk about initiatives he is working on via the My Brothers’ Keeper program. Our lazy press has not done anything to report on the positive initiatives of this administration.

  5. JanF

    St. Louis TV Station: Law enforcement officers held emotional press conference

    Captain Ron Johnson was nearly in tears as he detailed the struggle law enforcement officers have faced with protests and violence.

    Law enforcement backed off during one of the protests last week to avoid a violent confrontation, allowing looting and significant property damage in Ferguson. They faced a lot of criticism for that decision.

    Captain Johnson is asking all of the peaceful protesters to gather during the day, so criminals can’t hide among them under the cover of night. Johnson says some criminals have come from as far away as New York and California.

  8. Portlaw

    http://www.theguardian.com/wor…

    Dotson said during a press conference that the armed suspect was “acting erratically” and that people in the area contacted police. The victim had stolen two energy drinks from a convenience store, Dotson said.

    Dotson said witnesses could hear the man saying “Shoot me now, kill me now.”

    He said the man, a 23-year-old African American, did not respond to demands to drop his weapon as he approached the officers, carrying the knife with an overhand gesture. The man was within three to four feet of the officers when they shot him.

    The police shooting happened around 12.30pm local time, and Dotson told reporters: “I think officer safety is the number one issue.”

    No excuse. They guy was clearly disturbed.  If the guy was dangerous to the police, and from this account he may well have been,  they could have shot him in the kneecaps and have been protected from this disturbed indivudial. They shot to kill, IMO.  

  9. JanF

    White America’s racial blinders

    Asked whether the shooting in Ferguson “raises important issues about race,” 80 percent of black respondents said it did. But only 37 percent of white respondents agreed. And while two-thirds of black people said the police response in the aftermath of the Ferguson shooting went too far, only a third of white people thought so.[…]

    Thus the American conscience remains at bottom unperturbed, whether the name is Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, or Eric Garner, the unarmed New York City man choked to death last month by police after allegedly peddling untaxed cigarettes. It matters not that unarmed Amadou Diallo died of 19 New York City police bullets in 1999 or that unarmed Sean Bell died in a hail of 50 police bullets in Queens in 2006.

    America remains unmoved to end these atrocities, despite unarmed Timothy Thomas dying from Cincinnati police fire in 2001 or unarmed Oscar Grant being killed by BART police in Oakland in 2009. Although Boston has not recently drawn national attention for police brutality, it cannot be forgotten how Accelyne Williams was literally scared into a fatal heart attack 20 years ago by a 13-member SWAT team. They burst into the wrong Dorchester apartment looking for drugs and handcuffed the 75-year-old retired black minister, who died 45 minutes later.

    In a Pew survey on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, only 13 to 16 percent of white Americans saw racial unfairness in workplaces, schools, health care, restaurants, or elections.

    When the general white population sees no disparities, it is easy to see how the police, in turn, do not see full human beings in their crosshairs, especially when departments are disproportionately white.

    In recent years, video-game experiments have demonstrated that police – and even college students – are quicker to shoot black people on the stereotyped perception they are more dangerous. Those stereotypes can be overcome with training, but in a telephone interview, one of the leading psychologists in this field, Joshua Correll of the University of Colorado, said the Ferguson tragedy is a reminder that “very few are doing this kind of training.”

    Very few do this kind of training because America has not yet retrained itself on its racial attitudes. There is no sign yet that Ferguson is inspiring national reflection.

    Only deflection.

  10. JanF

    Does this guy live in an alternate universe? Or does he really believe that all cops who stop black people have nothing but goodwill in their hearts?


    “If you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?”

    “Do what the officer tells you to and it will end safely for both of you.”

    “We have a justice system in which you are presumed innocent; if a cop can do his or her job unmolested, that system can run its course.”

    WaPo Opinion Piece: “I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me”

    Certainly not all cops are bad; as first responders, they very often save lives and their presence in our communities is reassuring. But this is an incredible statement by the author: “No officer goes out in the field wishing to shoot anyone, armed or unarmed.”  

  11. Chris Blask

    Every police officer should wear one. If there had been one on the officer who shot Michael Brown, he either would not have shot him or we would actually know what happened and everything else would not have happened.

    This issue is done, stick a fork in it. Any force not equipping their officers with cameras needs to be legislated to do so.

  12. Cheryl Kopec

    http://sandiego.craigslist.org…

    He is a former game warden, and last I knew, after he retired from the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, he became a local law enforcement officer — I want to say sheriff or something, but we don’t have much contact apart from him emailing me inflammatory RWNJ stuff. My other uncle, his twin brother, was a state patrolman.

    Here’s what I want to say in reply — comments are eagerly welcomed!

    As a former law enforcement official yourself, do you think it’s ever justified to fatally shoot an unarmed civilian, especially when you’re in a vehicle and can get away if needed? Even if that citizen is high on drugs or had just shoplifted some cigars? Even if that citizen had posted odd photos online, apparently after drinking hard liquor?

    I thought you were all about the Constitution. And in no reading of the Constitution could one conclude that getting high, shoplifting, or posting tacky photos justifies the death penalty, especially without due process, especially when no attempt was even made to revive the victim or call EMS, and in fact, a nurse who tried to perform first aid was repelled by the police.

    I thought you right-wingers’ mantra was “the rule of law.” Apparently that applies only when alleging that the uppity black man in the White House is getting out of line, not when it’s a white cop gunning down a black teenager for walking down the street.

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