Ferguson & St. Louis, MO -- Deaths and Protests

[Blindgreed1]

I was asked to post this picture.

These people look serious. They can't possibly be, can they?

Sort of a comedic break from all the seriousness in this whole thing...

[Duchess]

Shoot. The image isn't showing. I'll fix it.

[Duchess]

Can you see it now?

[HairOfTheDog]

I can see it now.

If the one in the middle is for real, that's classic.

Hard to believe it's for real though.

[HairOfTheDog]

Okay, I had to check it out.



^ This photo is a hoax. Choppin' assholes.



^ This is the original photo.

[ZEROSPHERES]

This youtube video allegedly is of Michael Brown,
WARNING contains GRAPHIC VIOLENCE and the viewer must reply to the warning in order to procede. If in fact it is him I certainly can see why the cop was afraid for his life and shot at him. I was hoping the victim in the video had a gun to protect himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn2eDyaq3mQ

[HairOfTheDog]

^ If that's Michael Brown in that video, I'm Angelina Jolie.

The guy in the video looks nothing like Michael Brown -- the guy appears much shorter than 6'4", he's darker complected, and he appears older than 16 years old (that's how old Michael Brown would have been back when that video was first posted in Sept. 2012).

The video was shot at an apartment complex in Texas. I know of nothing putting Michael Brown in Texas at any time.

[HairOfTheDog]

Another Shooting -- 4 Idiots Arrested for Assaulting Officers in Aftermath

Another black male, Antonio Martin - 18, was shot to death last night by a police officer in Berkeley, MO -- 2 miles from Ferguson. Berkeley is a racially diverse town with a racially diverse police force.

Here's the story and the video of the shooting from gas station surveillance -- 3 different angles.



Very disappointing that the police vehicle's dash cam wasn't turned on, nor was the officer's body cam. Kinda pointless to issue body cams unless it's mandatory to use them. It would have been really helpful to have that video perspective and audio.

If that's a gun Davis drew and aimed at the (white) officer during the encounter, I'm glad the officer was the one left standing. In that case, Davis signed his own death warrant, as far as I'm concerned -- nothing controversial about it. Martin's mother and girlfriend disagree with me on that.

Standard investigation underway and press conference expected today. http://us.cnn.com/2014/12/24/justice/mis...?hpt=hp_c2

[Duchess]

You'd think that in light of what has been going down out there that their use of body cams and dash cams would have been mandatory. They've learned nothing.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

You would think, especially in the light of the things that have been going on. I think the policy should be put in place that if the equipment is available it should be in use, Precisely because of this type of situation.
The dead assholes almost always have family 2^nd guessing the cops that shot them. Doesn't seem to matter how many violent crimes, how many witnesses or dead bodies, its always "Leeroy was such a good boy, he was just going to sunday school and the police shot him"
The cops need to take this seriously, demand the equipment and be required to use it.

[HairOfTheDog]

The dead assholes almost always have family 2^nd guessing the cops that shot them. Doesn't seem to matter how many violent crimes, how many witnesses or dead bodies, its always "Leeroy was such a good boy, he was just going to sunday school and the police shot him"

Sometimes true.

The people who get shot in confrontations with cops, while armed and in the commission of crimes, are assholes by default who generally have family members and friends painting them as saints. I agree. Those aren't the circumstances surrounding the killings widely being protested now though.

But, I do see a possible trend developing towards every black person who's shot by a cop being hailed as an example of police brutality, which is a highly inaccurate generalization, IMO.

Anyway, your "Leeroy" reference reminded me of this story I saw the other day. Dumbass retired LAPD played this parody of "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" at an Elk's Lodge dinner. It's called "Dead, Dead, Michael Brown". The recording went viral.



In response: "I am aware of the video released via TMZ. Like many of you, I find it offensive & absurd. It does not reflect the values of the #LAPD," Chief Charlie Beck wrote. "I have directed our Professional Standards Bureau to look into this & determine if any active department employees were involved."

Worse, a Baltimore FOX (again) affiliate aired a report about protestors chanting "kill a cop" in a story titiled: "Sharpton's 'Go Kill a Cop March in DC' ". Sharpton, as much as I generally dislike the man, continues to repeatedly condemn violence every time I see and hear him speak.

So, what was really said at that march? The actual chant went “We won’t stop, we can’t stop, ’til killer cops are in cell blocks,” according to C-SPAN footage. The protestor who was chanting it has a brother who was killed while in police custody last year. She holds weekly prayer and justice rallies and told the Fox station when they issued their apology that she would never want to see cops killed -- she and her family and her community need cops -- she only wants to see the criminal cops prosecuted. Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/23...72468.html & http://newsone.com/3078948/fox-station-a...ant-video/

Lotta bullshit being tossed around...

[Duchess]

Were you all aware that a lifetime gag order was imposed on the Michael Brown/Darren Wilson grand jury?

One of the jurors is now suing the prosecutor. Good luck with that in Ferguson.

A member of the grand jury that ultimately decided not to indict former Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown is suing the prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County, accusing Robert McCulloch of mischaracterizing the grand jury process.

The still-anonymous grand juror, referred to only as "Grand Juror Doe" in the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, believes that his or her voice "could contribute to the current public dialogue concerning race relations" in the country. The grand juror believes that the Wilson case was handled much differently than the hundreds of other cases presented to the grand jury before the Wilson case.

Story

[HairOfTheDog]

FEDS: NO EVIDENCE OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

The U.S. Justice Department is about to close the investigation into the Michael Brown shooting and clear former officer Darren Wilson of any civil rights charges (according to The New York Times on Wednesday).

The newspaper quoted law enforcement officials as saying that federal prosecutors had begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, after an FBI investigation found no evidence to support charges against him.

The DOJ is still conducting its probe into the Ferguson police force.

[HairOfTheDog]

Department of Justice (DOJ) Investigations Completed -- The Winners & Losers

Winner: Darren Wilson
Last week the DOJ formally announced that they found no cause to charge Darren Wilson with civil rights violations against Michael Brown.

Losers: Ferguson PD, Two LEOs, the Court Clerk
The DOJ's separate investigation of Ferguson PD practices concluded that there is evidence of racial discrimination and that ticketing and court processes exploited blacks to raise revenue.

Two law enforcement officers and the Clerk of Courts have since resigned or been fired and Michael Brown's family is now filing suit against the city.

Here are some of the email contents highlighted in the the DOJ's report:
November 2008: An email stated that President Barack Obama would not be president for very long because 'what black man holds a steady job for four years.'

March 2010: An email mocked African-Americans through speech and stereotypes, using a story involving child support. One line from the email read: 'I be so glad that dis be my last child support payment! Month after month, year after year, all dose payments!'

April 2011: An email depicted President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee.

May 2011: An email stated: 'An African-American woman in New Orleans was admitted into the hospital for a pregnancy termination. Two weeks later she received a check for $5,000. She phoned the hospital to ask who it was from. The hospital said, 'Crimestoppers.'

June 2011: An email described a man seeking to obtain 'welfare' for his dogs because they are 'mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no frigging clue who their Daddies are.'

October 2011: An email included a photo of a group of topless women dancing, appearingly tribal, with the caption, 'Michelle Obama's High School Reunion.'

December 2011: An email included jokes based on offensive stereotypes about Muslims.
^ all of the emails were sent, received or forwarded during working hours.

The DOJ full report:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/...75/a206038

[Duchess]

Whatta lovely community.

[HairOfTheDog]

Whatta lovely community.

I think there are probably a fair number of communities just like it across the country, and it's past time for reform in Ferguson and cities like it.

Yesterday, the City Manager and the Chief of Police in Ferguson both resigned. The writing was on the wall after reading the DOJ report. Promoting trumped up ticketing and arrests for the sake of revenue generation is discrimination against the city residents by the police and city management.

However, I did not see anything in the report when I skimmed it which indicated the Ferguson police officers were directed to target black residents -- it looks more to me like it was an equal opportunity policy of exploitation in a city where the population is mostly black. I highly suspect the SFPD looks for and sometimes creates ticketing opportunities to generate revenue for the city here too, and we're about as diverse racially as it gets (I'd be surprised if a bunch of racist emails like the ones found on the Ferguson PD work server would be found here though).

Anyway..........there was a real opportunity for reform following the DOJ report and an opportunity for the the citizens of Ferguson to demonstrate that they don't need strong-arm militarized policing and are ready to move towards a better relationship with the city management and police force. BUT NO, instead some fucking dipshit(s) shot two police officers in Ferguson during a protest last night, following the Chief's resignation announcement.


^Officers examine the scene of the shooting

The officers were rushed to the hospital and are said to have been seriously injured. They are not Ferguson PD -- they're officers from neighboring communities. There are no suspects in custody, AFAIK.


Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/1...CJ20150312

[Maggot]

I would imagine many cops in Ferguson are looking to transfer and wouldn't blame any of them if they quit.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think you're probably right about officers looking to transfer or quit the Ferguson PD, Maggot.

Whether or not management directed police officers to target or discriminate against black residents in its policing-for-revenue policies, the DOJ did find evidence that led them to conclude that black residents were being discriminated against disproportionately:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/politics/f...-shocking/

- African-Americans weren't just more likely to be stopped, but more likely to be cited and arrested regardless of the reason for the stop. And they were more likely to receive multiple citations during a single incident.

- African-American drivers were twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during traffic stops, but 26% less likely to be found in possession of contraband.

-"It's not difficult to imagine how a single tragic incident set off the city of Ferguson like a powder keg," Attorney General Holder said. He pointed to the use of excessive force overwhelmingly against African-American residents, noting that only African-Americans were bit by police dogs, and said "no alternative explanation" except racial bias exists to explain it.

No doubt tensions are through the roof of in Ferguson. Hoping it gets better before it gets worse, that both officers pull through, and that the shooter(s) is apprehended soon.

Looks to me like the DOJ will be involved in completely rebuilding the City Manager's administration and the police force in Ferguson.

[Maggot]

Do you think that more Blacks were committing crimes as compared to Whites? Not sure if that was in the report. It looks like they were more likely to be arrested but were they more likely to commit crimes?

[SIXFOOTERsez]

I didn't see any white people looting or any of that during the riots, could have missed 1 or 2 though.
I don't know if you could say that a lack person is more likely than a white person to commit a crime. I do know that more blacks than whites are arrested, convicted and imprisoned which is why they a minority in public and a majority in prisons. Guess you can work the numbers to say anything you want though.