Mike Brown’s Mom Is Taking Her Son’s Case to the UN in Geneva

[damnedifIknow]

Lesley McSpadden, the mother of the 18-year-old boy whose death at the hands of a Ferguson police officer in August sparked weeks of protests, is going to Geneva, Switzerland next month to speak about her son and other victims of police brutality in front of the United Nations."

The trip — which was recently made public by organizers and promoted under the tagline "Ferguson to Geneva" — is meant to make a case, to as wide an audience as possible, that both Brown's killing and the militarized police response to protesters demanding justice for him, are a matter of human rights"

*Wade said he first thought to take Ferguson's fight for justice to the UN after learning of a similar initiative by a group of youth of color in Chicago, who planned to also go to Geneva this fall to denounce their experience as targets of police violence — an initiative they dubbed, "We charge genocide."

https://news.vice.com/article/mike-browns-mom-is-taking-her-sons-case-to-the-un-in-geneva

[LuvLoogie]

1. Good

[damnedifIknow]

2. Messed with the wrong mom

So it seems.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

30. Maybe if she had done a better job of teaching her son

the difference between right and wrong, he'd still be alive.

[Voice for Peace]

31. huh?

[nomorenomore08]

40. Then what's the use of having a court system at all.? Just shoot every suspect on sight.

[joeybee12]

43. And some of us wonder where some people went when Free Republic shut down...

[scarystuffyo]

3. Not sure where's he's going with this ....

Justin Hansford, a law professor at Saint Louis University and co-author of a brief to the UN body filed by Brown's family and local activists


"When the government has all the guns, all the force, and when they can kill people with impunity and without fear of being found guilty of a crime, that's a classic example of state violence"


You know what that sounds like...........

[damnedifIknow]

4. Sounds like scary stuff yo

Seriously.

[scarystuffyo]

6. I don't know if that's the best argument the lawyers should make to the UN

Sounds like anti government militia type stuff

[jtuck004]

8. Except they are killing black people in their neighborhoods. The militia run around

and point guns at them while fighting for the rights of a deadbeat rancher and walk free. Some of them even elected to public office.

Sounds more like trying to describe an anti-citizen government to me.

[Iris]

22. "anti-citizen" discernment

Good description and not just in this case.

[sabrina 1]

15. Sounds true to me. And is sounds like this mother no longer believes that African Americans

are safe from the police in this country, which happens to be true. She also clearly believes there will be no justice for African Americans who are murdered by cops in this country.

It was inevitable that sooner or later the victims of police brutality in this country would need to go outside this country to try to get some justice.

Things really are that bad.

[KingCharlemagne]

18. The only people who still believe that African Americans are safe

from the police in this country are 1) copologists, 2) racists and white supremacists and 3) black members of the 1% (this last group is not as unified as groups 1 an 2.

I think everyone else understands, even if they can't articulate it, that the police dispense two systems of justice in this country, due process for the white middle class and ad hoc summary justice for the lower class and people of color.

The question isn't whether this two-tier system of justice exists. The question is WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

[uponit7771]

19. +1

[KingCharlemagne]

16. The truth? - nt

[sheshe2]

5. Thank you for posting this, it's a great move to get the focus back on Ferguson.

and the larger matter of Human Rights.

But there's a more practical purpose to the delegation as well — to get the world's eyes back on Ferguson and St. Louis as residents prepare for an imminent grand jury announcement many fear will spark new clashes. Police have also been preparing for likely protests — stocking up on tear gas and riot gear and sending out emergency preparation plans for local schools.

Still scarred from the outsized police response to the summer protests, demonstrators have said they fear more force used against them, and they want to make sure that whatever happens next doesn't go unnoticed.

"They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on these tools of war, and stockpiling guns," Hansford said. "I think the international community and human rights community should turn their eyes towards Ferguson and see this in a human rights context."


https://news.vice.com/article/mike-browns-mom-is-taking-her-sons-case-to-the-un-in-geneva

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. "Citizens of the planet earth"....

Way to go mom,....way to go.

[16thMission]

9. I applaud her courage.

[99th_Monkey]

10. K&R Great. ~nt~

[riverwalker]

11. donate here

http://www.fergusontogeneva.org/

[mountain grammy]

12. We've always had a lot to say about human rights abuses in other countries

but not so much about our own, and we've had plenty, past and present.

[hedda_foil]

13. Yes!

And please take two minutes to watch the video from black youth in Chicago. The building in the background is the Cook County Jail.

[Cha]

14. Gawd I wish I had some $$$$$ to help these amazing kids to get to Geneva..

So Compelling So True So Brilliant of them!

Mahalo damnedifIknow!

Michael Brown Good on Michael Brown's Mom!

[Iris]

23. If heartfelt good wishes were $$$$$, you just gave a million!

I love your post!

[Cha]

24. Mahalo Iris~

[Initech]

17. Out of control gun laws + out of control police = perfect storm.

It's time something needs to be done about this and if our government is too chicken shit to do anything, it's time to go to someone who will stand up to the NRA bullies.

[ncjustice80]

27. Exactly. Isnt this why we have the UN? For when a government goes rogue?

[ncjustice80]

20. Its time for the UN to step in I think. Darren Wilson neexs to be arrested by Interpol

And brought to Ghe Hague for trial for crimes against humanity. Peacekeepers need to be deployed into Ferguson if necessary, b/c local authorities cannot be trusted.

[Oktober]

21. Not sure if serious...

Poe's law is in full swing on this one...

I hope not...

[GGJohn]

33. Darren Wilson won't ever be arrested by Interpol

and the Obama admin would never allow a UN peacekeeper force into Ferguson, much less the US.

[ncjustice80]

34. Wont isnt the same as shouldnt :/ The DOJ needs to step up, the fact Browns mom had ti go to Geneva

To plead for help is something America should be ashamed of.

[GGJohn]

35. How is the DoJ supposed to step up if there's insufficient proof of civil rights violations?

They're still investigating last I heard and no decision has come down yet.

[ncjustice80]

37. Insufficient evidence? 7 eye witnesses isnt enough?

[GGJohn]

38. A charge of violation of civil rights includes the racial component,

has the DoJ proved that yet?
Last I heard, the decision hasn't been released yet, just rumors, and who knows if those are true.

So, unlike you, I'll wait for the decision to be released.

You said in an earlier that Darren Wilson should be brought to the Hague and tried for crimes against humanity, what crimes against humanity did Darren Wilson commit?
Do you understand the definition of Crimes Against Humanity?

Here, let me help you out:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity

Crimes Against Humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of human beings."[1] They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; massacres; dehumanization; extermination; human experimentation; extrajudicial punishments; military use of children; kidnappings; unjust imprisonment; slavery; cannibalism, torture; rape; political, racial, or religious persecution; and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may instead constitute grave infringements of human rights, or — depending on the circumstances — war crimes, but are not classified as crimes against humanity.

Doesn't even come close to your assertation.

[ncjustice80]

39. He murdered, an unarmed, black, teenager, in BROAD DAYLIGHT.

Stop defending this odious piece of racist shit. Just fucking STOP.

[GGJohn]

41. He didn't murder Michael Brown, that hasn't been determined yet,

he killed Michael Brown, that's not in dispute.

I'm not defending him, I'm disputing your assertion that he needs to be tried at the Hague for crimes against humanity, which you very clearly don't know the meaning of.

And deploying UN peacekeepers to Ferguson? That's got to be satire, right?

[ncjustice80]

42. If you cant admit it was a murder, I have nothing else to say to you.

[GGJohn]

44. Why would I admit it was murder when that hasn't been determined yet?

[pampango]

25. Yet another reason for our conservatives to hate the UN (as if they needed one).

Conservatives in Europe have the European Union to hate. Conservatives hate any international organization that weakens supremacy of nationalism which seem to be a common commitment on the right.

If there is one ideological doctrine about which there is almost full consensus regarding its importance for understanding the far-right worldview, it is that of nationalism. Historically, the literature on nationalism has taken diverse directions and is extremely rich, but in its varying guises it usually refers to the association between ethnic, cultural and/or linguistic identity and political expression, or more simply put, the convergence of a cultural framework with a political entity.

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ChallengersFromtheSidelines.pdf

[rhett o rick]

28. Bravo! This is exactly NOT what the Power That Be want. They have carefully

conspired to militarize the police knowing that they will overstep, and especially against the Black Community. The PTB would like to see the Black Community react with violent revolts against the police. This will justify the militarization of the police and justify further encroachments against our rights. Such a revolt will split the lower classes into two camps, those that support minorities and those that hate minorities. Guess which group is armed to the teeth.

Those that dream of a revolt of the lower classes against the 1% should wake up. The Ruling Oligarchs are orchestrating this and if there is violence, it will be between the two factions mention above. Progressives must speak up loudly against the actions of the Ruling Oligarchs against minorities.

[noiretextatique]

29. excellent...put this on the world stage

and shame the fuck out of american authorities. they deserve it.

[Starry Messenger]

32. K&R

"We charge genocide"

People should google that title, it has massive historical resonance.

[libdem4life]

36. And a hearty "Amen, Sister" Ought to get Obama squirming a bit, as well as the

rest of the law-abiding community. Isn't Rev Al going to Ferguson? Say what you will about him, but he's one power packed black man that I admire.