The Death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Casual racists really only need to be presented with the barest pretext of "thuggery" to smooth the cognitive dissonance stirred up by vague feelings that a person of color deserved to be murdered. Shoplifting on its own isn't so terribly damning, but shoplifting while black is indicative of a whole spectrum of antisocial behavior which would have only escalated had the police not taken care of the situation.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/us/surplus-military-equipment-map.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0

Mapping the Spread of the Military’s Surplus Gear

State and local police departments obtain some of their military-style equipment through a free Defense Department program created in the early 1990s. While the portion of their gear coming from the program is relatively small (most of it is paid for through department budgets and federal grants), detailed data from the Pentagon illustrates how ubiquitous such equipment has become. Highlighted counties have received guns, grenade launchers, vehicles, night vision or body armor through the program since 2006.

xp Right, just saying a guy who had just robbed someone a few minutes earlier would be more likely to struggle with police than any guy walking down the street. Still seems suspicious that they haven't released more of the details of the shooting itself.

i think the problem really isn't any "struggle" but the fact that cops in general time and again seem to believe the only way they can deal with a "struggle" is by shooting somebody.

agree, also other witness accounts still make it sound like he was running when shot

BTW, that wasn't directed at you, Hurting. Just a general observation born of impotent rage.

like it's amazing to me that all i'd need to deal with a guy who's kinda maybe possibly (but maybe not) being a slight dick is to put on a badge, call him out on it, wait for him to get aggro back, and shoot him, then continue about with my life like nbd.

Well, you might be suspended without pay for a little while. Or be given desk duty. But otherwise, yeah.

without pay? my union will have something to say about that.

administrative leave = pay

cops coming up w this info 5 DAYS LATER is highly suspect; info itself is completely immaterial to the murder imo

like omg guy just got aggro and boosted some cigars BETTER SHOOT HIM

from that new republic article

What happened to the box of Swisher Sweets?

lol

administrative leave is one euphemism for the ages, sounds like dude off doing his taxes

from what I've gathered the police officer who shot michael brown had no idea that he had just shoplifted

wau: the overweight grouch on the FOX News panel on the 5 p.m. who passes for a moderate voice denounced the network for playing in a loop the video of Brown's alleged shoplifting. Why not footage of the peaceful marches? Whereupon the video shifts abruptly to...the peaceful marches.

Lovelace the police chief confirmed in a recent report that the officer did not, indeed, know he had just shoplifted. he had not responded to that report (that was a diff officer)

ok that makes the release of the video REALLY fucking suspect

yeah it's character assassination, nothing more. I mean nobody can defend the actions depicted in the video but the appropriate action is an arrest, not a shooting.

I agree w/ Hurting before that the testimony of the friend who was with him might not be trustworthy, but that was always known. Other independent witnesses who didn't (to my knowledge) have a vested interest in Brown also reported a similar story (although they did confirm a struggle in the car).

it speaks a lot to our gun-fetishism that someone holding a heavy weapon of weaponry can reach to any flinch or lurch as 'reaching for their gun', or any hand motion towards a waist as 'reaching for a potential weapon' and shoot someone dead and have millions come to their defense as responding to a 'credible threat'. You're the dude with the weapon.

Just a cursory glance at that NYT weapons map reveals an insane number of armaments.

I hovered over Yolo county CA, home of UC Davis, to find it has a helicopter, and an armored vehicle, and 446 assault rifles to keep the peace among its 204,000 residents across 1000 +/- square miles. I'm not sure if the weapon hoards are shared between agencies or if its all county property. But for a county that has 2.9 violent crimes per 1000 people, it seems grossly excessive.

I was also disturbed to learn that my own county of Alameda (7.9 violent crimes per 1000 citizens) is in possession of a grenade launcher. How it might be utilized in a policing situation is beyond me.

http://www.kaceykaderly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/sublime-rome.jpg

Also they're apparently super into overnight surveillance in Ventura County, home to 3275 pieces of night vision equipment.

for the record, the "struggle in the car" that both eyewitnesses have described:

A new witness to the killing of Michael Brown emerged Thursday, corroborating major details offered by the earlier witness, Dorian Johnson. Both described the initial interaction between the 18-year-old and the officer as a tug-of-war in which the officer grabbed the teenager as Brown tried to free himself from the officer’s grip through a car window.

Contradicting an earlier statement by St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, Mitchell said she did not see Brown or anyone else assault the officer. Brown’s body stayed out of the police vehicle the entire time, Mitchell said. She also contradicted Belmar’s statement that there was a struggle over the officer’s weapon.

i think the problem really isn't any "struggle" but the fact that cops in general time and again seem to believe the only way they can deal with a "struggle" is by shooting somebody.

"cops in general" yes, but also people with guns in general. Black men are dangerous weapons and therefore it is justifiable to use deadly force when faced with even the hint of physical force from one. Obv it's even more egregious when a "professional" officer of the law is seemingly unable to use other options when faced with such a "threat".

someone in contact with Darren Wilson's family calls in to a wingnut radio show to give "his side of the story"

Wilson's totally plausible story is that of a cop with the politeness of an angel being assaulted by a maniac so aggro that not only did he initially attack the cop, and grab for his gun, but said maniac then ran 35 feet away only to turn around, taunt the cop pointing a gun at him when told to freeze, and then suddenly "bum rush" him 28 Days Later zombie style probably because he was "on something"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzBdY6WXeRE

shit sorry that garbage embedded

don't listen to wingnut shows

don't read the comments

don't post them here

Seeing speculation that the location of the theft and the location of the shooting are about half a mile to three quarters of a mile apart, meaning Brown would have had to traverse that distance in about 6 minutes while wearing flip flops

the store mike allegedly robbed was ransacked tonight--shortly afterward many took up posts in front of that store and others to guard against looting.

Eddie Baker ‏@iameddiebaker 6m
Repeat: dumb, drunk people tried to loot but were peacefully stopped by protesters while cops posed in riot gear and did nothing #Ferguson

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BvJAvwJIUAATbaj.jpg

fuck this shit after yesterday. i mean the return of the stormtroopers, not the righteous protestors guarding shops

yeah, the return of the tear gas caught me by surprise

fuck this shit after yesterday. i mean the return of the stormtroopers, not the righteous protestors guarding shops

^^^all of this

Holy shit. Curfew announced from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

meet the new boss, etc.

"We must first have and maintain peace. This is a test. The eyes of the world are watching," Nixon said at a news conference Saturday afternoon...

so nervous right now

Yeah, Nixon again:

@GovJayNixon 13h
To achieve justice, we first need peace. Plz stay safe tonight. #PeaceinFerguson

Is THAT how it works -- "no peace, no justice"?

Twitter is the most undignified means of communication ever devised.

He had 60 characters left.

At a news conference about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Captain Johnson explained that some tear gas had been used because the police had learned that armed men were inside a barbecue restaurant. One man with a gun had moved to the middle of the street, Captain Johnson said, but escaped. Another man, who was not identified, was shot by an unknown assailant and taken by companions to a hospital, where he was reported to be in critical condition. A police car was fired upon, the captain added, but it was not immediately clear if it was hit.

nyt. ???.

Twitter indicates that police denied for something like...6 hours? Some hours? That they were shooting tear gas, claiming it was just "smoke" when EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITHIN WAFTING DISTANCE could tell they were lying. Then as they were about to leave the scene, a spokesperson admitted, Oh yeah, we eventually DID fire tear gas at those people.

My sense of the timeline is muddied by only finding this out when I wake up in the AM.

AND YOU KNOW FYI MISSOURI IS AN OPEN CARRY STATE SO

jesseWilliams. @iJesseWilliams
All of you vile, incurious, justify-anything, white supremacist cowards need to miss me w/ the bullshit & unfollow, forthwith. #Ferguson

dude from grey's anatomy is real AF

@WesleyLowery
On the phone now with a Ferguson mother who, along with her 17-year-old son, was also arrested in McDonalds on Wedns cc @ryanjreilly

@WesleyLowery
Had gone to counter to buy a sundae, saw cops. They demanded she come outside. She did. Said "can't leave w/o my son." They put her in cuffs

@WesleyLowery
When her son (seen in my video) finally finds her, she instructs him to record arrest on his iPad. Cops proceed to arrest him too.

This feels like that Bob Herbert town in Texas or other stories we've heard about small corrupt towns, but this one has growing witnesses every day (including Amnesty International).

Looking really grim right now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html

haven't been in this thread cuz have nothing unfatuous to say but this shit is the worst the worst and my heart pounds whenever i think of it, just wanna register that quickly here cuz i have no one otherwise to talk to abt it irl at the moment without causing arguments i don't wanna have anymore.