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More on Michael Brown

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Clarissa

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August 12, 2014

I’ve been watching Michael Brown’s story on the news, and it’s much worse than we even thought. The police left the kid’s dead body just lying outside for a long time. Now the police are refusing to take the statement of the only witness to the shooting, Michael’s friend. And he has a lot to say.

It seems that Michael and his friend were walking in the street in broad daylight when the police officer started hassling them and finally shot Michael who had his hands up in the air at the time of shooting. There is also a possibility Michael was shot in the back but the autopsy report has not been released.

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51 responses to “More on Michael Brown”

Stringer Bell

August 12, 2014

They’ve made the airspace a no-fly zone so news helicopters can’t get any footage. Shooting wooden rounds the size of golf balls at protesters.

Also this:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/08/12/ferguson_tear_gas_video_angry_but_apparently_unarmed_residents_face_attack.html?

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N G

August 12, 2014

You might also find this video interesting.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=12236

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Stille (@aperfectbalance)

August 13, 2014

Fucking monsters.

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Stringer Bell

August 13, 2014

http://www.businessinsider.com/police-militarization-ferguson-2014-8

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 13, 2014
  
  I’m wondering why the “we are for a small government” folks don’t have anything to say about this.
  
  Well, actually, I’m not really wondering because the answer is obvious.
  
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  1. Stille (@aperfectbalance)
    
    August 14, 2014
    
    To be fair, they do have quite a bit to say about this. Someone’s already mentioned Radley Balko, and Reason have been covering the events in Ferguson as well.
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      August 14, 2014
      
      I don’t know who this Balko character is. I’m addressing myself to the numerous readers of this blog who whine “but we are for the small government” like stupid little brats yet have absolutely nothing whatsoever to say when it might make sense to oppose actual governmental overreach.
      
      Far be it from me to go seeking out the childish “opinions” of these freaks elsewhere. I have all that I can handle dealing with their silliness right here on the blog.
      
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  2. hkatz
    
    August 14, 2014
    
    “I don’t know who this Balko character is.”
    
    He’s a journalist and has been writing for a while now about the injustices of the war on drugs and the militarization of the police.
    
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Stringer Bell

August 13, 2014

Another day, another black man shot by police. This time for carrying a toy gun in an open carry state.

http://www.ebony.com/news-views/john-crawford-killed-405#

“If all citizens have the right to bear arms, then the outrage at John Crawford III’s death should be coming from Open Carry groups in Ohio as well as from his family and friends. ”

Obviously not. Open carry, and the right to bear arms, has always been about the rights of *white men* to bear arms.

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el

August 13, 2014

I read SB’s article and then found this long article, “Why America’s Police Are Becoming So Militarized”, which was worth reading anyway because of 3 paragraphs revealing something important:

// Because of a legal quirk, SWAT raids can be profitable. Rules on civil asset-forfeiture allow the police to seize anything which they can plausibly claim was the proceeds of a crime. Crucially, the property-owner need not be convicted of that crime. If the police find drugs in his house, they can take his cash and possibly the house, too. He must sue to get them back.

Many police departments now depend on forfeiture for a fat chunk of their budgets. In 1986, its first year of operation, the federal Asset Forfeiture Fund held $93.7m. By 2012, that and the related Seized Asset Deposit Fund held nearly $6 billion.

Mr Balko contends that these forfeiture laws are “unfair on a very basic level”. They “disproportionately affect low-income people” and provide a perverse incentive for police to focus on drug-related crimes, which “come with a potential kickback to the police department”, rather than rape and murder investigations, which do not. They also provide an incentive to arrest suspected drug-dealers inside their houses, which can be seized, and to bust stash houses after most of their drugs have been sold, when police can seize the cash. //

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-americas-police-are-becoming-so-militarized-2014-3

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1. Stringer Bell
  
  August 13, 2014
  
  Missed that. Thanks for posting.
  
  “To serve and protect”, ha!
  
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el

August 13, 2014

I think a good way to fight against militarization of police departments would be to talk how a great deal of money from citizens’ taxes is wasted on :

// Keene, a small town in New Hampshire which had three homicides between 1999 and 2012, spent nearly $286,000 on an armoured personnel-carrier known as a BearCat. The local police chief said it would be used to patrol Keene’s “Pumpkin Festival and other dangerous situations”. //

🙂 I laugh rarely, but Pumpkin Festival is so cute and funny 🙂 Don’t have words.

Btw, I still believe guns in hands of citizens tend to put them into more danger than otherwise (on average):

// Householders, on hearing the door being smashed down, sometimes reach for their own guns. In 2006 Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman in Atlanta, mistook the police for robbers and fired a shot from an old pistol. Police shot her five times, killing her. After the shooting they planted marijuana in her home. It later emerged that they had falsified the information used to obtain their no-knock warrant. //

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 14, 2014
  
  Why do you rarely laugh? Are you OK? Is anything bad going on? Remember, mental health above all.
  
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Stille (@aperfectbalance)

August 14, 2014

A Twitter list of reporters covering the Ferguson protests

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Stringer Bell

August 14, 2014

“yet have absolutely nothing whatsoever to say when it might make sense to oppose actual governmental overreach.”

That’s because the police department of a small town riding around in an Abrams tank shelling people in their backyards is just the right amount of government. Any government is ok as long as its not federal.

I’m sure the tryanny-preventing militia of gun nuts who so so bravely protected the Cliven Bundy ranch are on their way to lend their support to the good people of Ferguson. Just getting a posse together, stocking up on food supplies for the long horseback journey. Good luck fellas!

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 14, 2014
  
  “That’s because the police department of a small town riding around in an Abrams tank shelling people in their backyards is just the right amount of government. Any government is ok as long as its not federal.”
  
  – No, it’s not about federal vs non-federal. “I’m against big government” means “I’m against any constraints against any actions of the infantile white, straight, male, well-off, older whiners or their wannabes but I’m in favor of an enormous repressive apparatus imposing the ridiculous whims of said whiners onto everybody else around the world.”
  
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Stringer Bell

August 14, 2014

“No, it’s not about federal vs non-federal.”

We’re both talking about the same thing, though. Remember when right-wingers invoke ‘state rights’ it is ALWAYS in the context of the state government quashing individual rights (banning gay marriage, discrimination in the work place, passing ridiculous voting laws, putting up ten commandment plaques at the courthouses, etc.). And when the Federal government steps in, they whine about ‘BIG GOVERNMENT TYRANNY’. These idiots do NOT support individual rights, they support the inalienable ‘right’ of state/local government to suppress the rights of minorities. And they cry, oh god, how they cry, about FREEDOM when the Federal government prevents them from enforcing their stupid, oppressive policies.

Bald-eagle-shedding-a-tear.jpg.

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Lee

August 14, 2014

If people had respect for officers of the law none of this would happen. You can’t disrespect an officer of the law and expect to come out unscathed. Don’t mouth off to officers, follow directions and you’ve got nothing to worry about.

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1. hkatz
  
  August 14, 2014
  
  “Don’t mouth off to officers, follow directions and you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
  
  Greetings. I’m pleased to hear about the planet you hail from, where this is a surefire way of avoiding trouble with the police. Here on my planet, “disobedience” and “lack of respect” are often defined in a very flexible and context-dependent fashion by the police.
  
  But I’ll consider your words further. Maybe my country (the US) was founded on the principle that true freedom can only be attained by unquestioning obedience to authority. Also, maybe if you allow police to shoot people for not jumping to follow orders, they will restrain themselves in all future scenarios. That’s really how human psychology works and a strong democratic society functions. As long as we know that the police can do no wrong, we can be free!
  
  “You can’t disrespect an officer of the law and expect to come out unscathed.”
  
  Sometimes, you can. For instance, when a man fires on first responders (including police) with an AK-47 and sets traps for them with propane tanks, he is arrested instead of being killed on the spot:
  
  http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/26274028/friend-of-dallas-ambush-suspect-says-hes-not-surprised
  
  But maybe shooting at people and setting fire to gas tanks doesn’t reach the same level of disrespect as jaywalking while unarmed. Kids these days…
  
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2. Jules
  
  August 16, 2014
  
  Good point Lee….
  at least tonight, things should be safer for the all Blacks & Whites in Ferguson…
  with the curfew in effect.
  The Police withdrawing last night was a huge mistake! The looting & violence was just waiting for that opportunity to inflict more damge to business owners and Police officers.
  Dependiing on the Sunday morning (Midnight to 5 AM) Curfew and its aftermath…possibly the next step will require more protection, such as the National Guard and Marshall Law.
  It was the only thing that finally settled the Washington DC and Detroit riots years back!
  
  observer Jules
  
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  1. Jones
    
    August 18, 2014
    
    Marshall Law, he’s that bloke who keeps saying that the town’s not big enough for the two of us? 🙂
    
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  2. Stringer Bell
    
    August 18, 2014
    
    Yeah, let us not forget what the real outrage here is: Negroes mouthing off to white cops. 😦
    
    Can’t wait for your racist generation to die off, so your party becomes even more irrelevant in national elections.
    
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  3. el
    
    August 18, 2014
    
    // Can’t wait for your racist generation to die off
    
    There are many wonderful people of older generation/s, and some of them are even on-line. And there are many all kinds of bad younger people. Don’t think telling that to entire generation is just.
    
    What if one day somebody tells you “SB, can’t wait…” ? Or do you think we are the end of history and younger generations won’t ever see us as bad in any way?
    
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  4. Jules
    
    August 18, 2014
    
    Stringer Bell knows alot about things…you can tell by the brilliant suggestions put forth.
    LOL
    Stringer Bell says ” Yeah, let us not forget what the real outrage here is: Negroes mouthing off to white cops. :(”
    Perhaps Stringer Bell has failed to see the outrage is coming from the Blacks in Ferguson!
    
    More helpful brilliance from Stringer Bell:
    “Can’t wait for your racist generation to die off, so your party becomes even more irrelevant in national elections”
    
    In mentioning elections, perhaps the Brilliant and Helpful Stringer Bell, once again, failed to hear Rev. Al Sharpton admonish the Blacks of Ferguson by noting that the last local election revealed a disappointing 12% voter turnout. Very telling for a city with close to 70% Black population.
    
    Keep up the good work Brilliant & Helpful Stringer Bell….you are giving us all a chance to know you and calculate your worth! LOL
    
    ..observer Jules…
    
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3. Shakti
  
  August 17, 2014
  
  Cartman is that you?
  
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Lee

August 14, 2014

St. Louis County, MO (KSDK) – St. Louis County Police Chief Timothy Fitch will be part of a national delegation of law enforcement officials traveling to Israel next month to study counter-terrorism tactics.

Over a weeklong visit, the delegation will learn how Israel’s police, intelligence and security forces prevent terror attacks, and includes visits to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tiberias. Law enforcement will be briefed by members of the Israel National Police, the Israel Defense Forces, among others.

The trip is part of the Anti-Defamation League’s National Counter-Terrorism Seminar.

KSDK

http://archive.ksdk.com/news/article/251178/147/Chief-Fitch-visiting-Israel-for-counter-terrorism-

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el

August 17, 2014

I was reading

Ferguson: A Fire Alarm in the Night
The riots in Ferguson, Missouri, raise a lot of important questions—not just about race in Ferguson but about race in 21st-century America writ large.
http://www.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2014/08/15/ferguson-a-fire-alarm-in-the-night/

and the author linked to his previous piece:

The Last Compromise
The history of race in America has been one of a series of “great compromises”, from the Founding up to the election of Barack Obama. There are signs that the latest compromise is breaking down.
http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2012/08/10/the-last-compromise/

I can’t really judge how right he is, but love reading posts giving more information about American history.

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1. Stringer Bell
  
  August 17, 2014
  
  I hope you read other sources, too. Getting your american history lessons from a a bunch of neocons is probably not best.
  
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  1. el
    
    August 17, 2014
    
    \\ I hope you read other sources, too.
    
    What are the sites that you like?
    
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Jules

August 17, 2014

I love it when people think you have to read books about American history…when very possibly they avoid talking and learning from the the “real and living” historians in our very midst. These “real & living” historians, of course, are our senior citizens, folks with 40, 50, 60, 70 years of the day to day, living experiences of America. Many of these folks won’t be found on Twitter are on Facebook….your tutorial from them might be found on their front porch, or in a coffee shop…maybe a retirement home.
Living in the Caribbean for many years, I was charmed to see the respect and love given to seniors…..they were referred to as “Old Heads” alluding to and respecting respecting their knowledge!

….observer Jules…..

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Shakti

August 17, 2014

No, Jules.

Senior citizens aren’t “real and living historians” unless they also happen/ed to be practicing historians or archivists. By that standard, I am a “real and living historian” of the 1980s since I lived through that decade. More properly, senior citizens are primary sources with their own biases and points of view — and that can be valuable or just some old dude spouting an opinion.

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1. Jules
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  Dearest Shakti…I understand where you are coming from…however you seem to give a great deal of credence to Historians, perhaps you are one!
  Perhaps, also, you might even be able to explain a certain historical event that happened 60 years ago on the Island of Exuma in the Bahamas. More than likely, you would glean the wriiten word from sources in your library or maybe something you find on the internet. Perhaps in doing so you would even deem yourself an expert.
  In my opinion a bevy of eyewitness history would be so much more beneficial.
  I do love your comment about “just some old dude spouting an opinion”
  ……..bingo, it hits home, with this old dude! LOL
  
  …Observer Jules….
  
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Stringer Bell

August 18, 2014

Jules, I do appreciate that you’ve abandoned your faux objectivity (‘let’s wait for the facts to come out’) and now have been openly advocating that this killing was justified. It is a real step forward in racist/not-racist relations in this country when we can have that kind of honesty and trust in our dialogue with each other. Speak your mind, son!

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1. cliff arroyo
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  Well since the initial reports about gunning down an innocent teen in his back, it’s emerged that
  
  a) he was almost certainly involved in a strong arm robbery a few minutes before he was stopped by police (it’s hard to see how this would not have affected his attitude and judgement in an interaction with the cops)
  
  b) he was not shot in the back
  
  I agree that the militarization of the police is a very bad thing, and race relations are terrible for lots of hard to fix reasons and it’s regrettable that Brown was killed. That doesn’t change the fact that he should be in jail.
  
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  1. Stringer Bell
    
    August 18, 2014
    
    What a relief to his family. ‘THAT THUG WAS NOT SHOT IN THE BACK, NOW GO HOME’.
    
    -Cliff arroyo, power worshipper extraordinaire.
    
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cliff arroyo

August 18, 2014

“Cliff arroyo, power worshipper extraordinaire”

Where did you get _that_ from? The original narrative about a “gentle giant” who was shot in the back turns out to be bullshit. That doesn’t mean I’m happy he’s dead or that I support the insane militarization of the police (typical of oligarchies of the type the US has become).

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el

August 18, 2014

// What a relief to his family. ‘THAT THUG WAS NOT SHOT IN THE BACK, NOW GO HOME’.

If he was a criminal, it does challenge the portrait of “a boy next door,” presented by numerous media.

It doesn’t make cop’s behavior a right one, of course.

Cliff, was he known to police? What does the cop say about his reasons for shooting?

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1. Stringer Bell
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  “It doesn’t make cop’s behavior a right one, of course. ”
  
  Then why are we discussing it? If you think this shooting was justified, then say it.
  
  In other news:
  
  Breaks the hand of a cop, kicks another. Gets arrested and put in jail. Does anyone want to guess the race of Kevin Miner? He was smart, though, and didn’t MOUTH OFF. Apparently that’s what sets off those noble, hardworking cops of Ferguson. They’re just not trained to take that kind of verbal abuse such as “No”.
  
  http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Police-Suspect-hides-in-womans-basement-assaults-officers-271009211.html
  
  “Police said they conducted a search for more than one hour Monday, an effort to find Kevin Miner, 25. Miner was wanted for burglary. Officers said he tried hide one resident’s home.
  
  “I saw the basement door was open, the cellar door was open, and I said ‘did you look down there?,” said resident Christina Freed
  
  Officers went down the cellar steps of Freed’s home and tried to open the basement door, but Miner allegedly slammed it back shut, breaking an officer’s hand in the process.
  
  Officers said they forced the door open, causing Miner to fight back. Miner then allegedly kicked an officer.
  
  Miner was arrested and is facing charges of felony assault and trespassing.”
  
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Stringer Bell

August 18, 2014

It’s like the racists just can’t stand criticism of the police in this story, so now they turn to character assassination. Not directly, of course, that would be gauche. Just subtle enough.

“It doesn’t make rapist’s behavior a right one, of course. but we do want to point out that the original media narrative portraying the girl as a sweet, christian girl next door turns out to be total bullshit. She was known to have given blowjobs to two different men a few hours earlier. Just pointing that out. Of course rape is bad. But we’re reserving all our energy to counter the media narrative that she was pure as driven snow. SHE WASN’T AND THE WHOLE WORLD SHOULD KNOW THAT IN THE INTEREST OF THE TRUTH! That’s where we feel our efforts should focus on. Of course rape is bad. We’re just interested in the complete truth”.

You people fool nobody. 🙂

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Jules

August 18, 2014

Brilliant and Helpful Stringer says:
Jules, I do appreciate that you’ve abandoned your faux objectivity (‘let’s wait for the facts to come out’) and now have been openly advocating that this killing was justified. It is a real step forward in racist/not-racist relations in this country when we can have that kind of honesty and trust in our dialogue with each other. Speak your mind, son!”

Dear Brilliant and Helpful Stringer Bell….sorry, but your reading skills are becoming suspect, or worse. You seem to process what you read almost as a newcommer to the
English language, while thinking in, yet, another language.
My position stands, as it was in my earliest post, calm down and “let’s wait till the facts to be revealed” Nowhere, have I advocated that the killing was justified! Got it??
As I don’t know your background, and cannot ascertain your struggle, all remains well towards you.

…observer Jules…

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Vic Crain

August 18, 2014

I’m putting part of what I posted on the Univ of Chicago page last night. There are plenty of facts out now that people are apparently unwilling to read:
—
OK, this is Missouri, and part of that state still thinks the South won the Civil War. If you know the state, the only surprise is that this didn’t happen decades ago. Actually, it did, but without the media coverage. The Wall Street Journal has a good article on the history of racial tensions in Ferguson. http://online.wsj.com/articles/missouri-community-seeks-answers-about-police-shooting-of-teen-1407939862

Business Week has an excellent article, from which the following quote comes:

“The map of St. Louis County, the home of Ferguson, looks like a shattered pot. It’s broken into 91 municipalities that range from small to tiny, along with clots of population in unincorporated areas. Dating as far back as the 19th century, communities set themselves up as municipalities to capture control of tax revenue from local businesses, to avoid paying taxes to support poorer neighbors, or to exclude blacks. Their behavior has ranged from somewhat parochial to flatly illegal.”
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-15/how-st-dot-louis-countys-map-explains-fergusons-racial-discord

The issue today has as much to do with economic segregation as with racial segregation.
—
By the way, has anyone read “The Politics of School Desegregation”? What’s there is very similar to what’s happening now, and the blame for the violence probably should fall on town and county politicians. (The book was my father’s PhD thesis at Chicago, and he worked hands-on with Ralph Abernathy and other Civil Rights leaders in the 60s-80s. He’s white and received numerous death threats for his trouble.)

Finally, the autopsy determined that the officer fired six times, with the last bullet hitting the kid in the top of the head when he was either facing, falling or already on the ground. Evidence has already been presented to a grand jury; I expect the officer to be indicted either on state or Federal charges (or both) very shortly.

There are many officers who deserve respect. This is not one of them.

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  Thank you, Vic Crain for this comment. I’ve started to feel really creeped out by the weird refusal to see the painfully obvious in this situation. After I heard the autopsy report on the radio this morning, I thought this clear, incontrovertible, scientific evidence would make an impression. I’m now seeing it didn’t.
  
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  1. Vic Crain
    
    August 19, 2014
    
    Two things, and the first you should have hit in your teaching:
    
    (1) Americans don’t like to read. That includes textbooks, newspapers, magazines, computer manuals, instructions for assembling products, etc. Reading online allows one to be very selective and miss a lot of what’s happening.
    
    (2) Courtesy of the advertising industry’s mantra that “perception is reality,” people tend to assume that everything they read — except what they like — is spin. That willingness to believe in likeable fairy tales is what makes modern US politics so hideous. It also allows the people getting screwed to ask for more from the people who are doing it.
    
    The police system and absurd spending could be another set of blogs. Why does a widespot in the road have an armored vehicle? Why do we have 3500 airports in the US, each with its own TSA crew? Why does the state of Missouri allow an incorporated town to exist that has 13 residents in total? We complain about government spending, but no one wants to fix stupid decisions.
    
    The US has morphed from an innovative, hard-working society to one based on gluttony. Shear sloth is the reason inattentive citizens can allow the politicians to turn this country into a police state while lying about upholding the Constitution.
    
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2. Z
  
  August 19, 2014
  
  This is key but your second comment is even more fascinating and could work well as a post for further discussion.
  
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Jules

August 18, 2014

On Wed. the Grand Jury will indict the policeman…he will be arrested…then we wait for the trial…going to be a long, heartfelt process, to be sure!
There will be sorrow and pain and much gnashing of teeth.
The third autopsy is really not needed., but with the Feds involved, it has to be.

…observer Jules….

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  He’s not a policeman. He’s a murderer. I hope he never gets out of jail, that animal.
  
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Jules

August 18, 2014

Oh, oh…looks like Clarissa won’t be selected for jury duty. LOL

jules

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  What jury duty? I’m not a citizen.
  
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  1. Jules
    
    August 19, 2014
    
    goodbye Clarissa…it was fun…thanks for the train ride
    
    observer Jules
    
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Jules

August 18, 2014

Joke Clarissa, JOKE !

jules

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 18, 2014
  
  Yes, this is such an appropriate thread for jokes.
  
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