The Ferguson grand jury was never intended to bring an indictment

[kpete]

St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch

When you think of a grand jury, you think of a fair system in which the prosecutor makes his or her best case for bringing someone to trial for committing a crime, presenting the best evidence in a coherent narrative that the jury can then weigh to determine whether or not there is probable cause to try that suspect—to indict them. That's not what happened in St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch's grand jury investigation in Officer Darrell Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown.

And St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch did not want an indictment. He also didn’t want a non-indictment. Instead, as he explained it to the 12 members of the grand jury, this proceeding was about investigating the case and letting the jurors decide.

"Everything that's been collected, every statement that has ever been made, it will all be here for you," McCulloch said on the first day, August 20. "You need to keep that open mind."

In other words, he didn't want his fingerprints on the ultimate decision. But the choices he made in how the evidence was presented and in how his prosecutors behaved when questioning witnesses definitely reflect how he steered this decision. Consider the questioning of Witness #42, who testified, "I didn't deem it to be a hostile situation to where the officer needed to have his gun raised. […] Mike was coming like, 'stop shooting' And he's shooting him and kept shooting him. I'm like, he don't pose no threat. […] He was ready to give himself up." Here's what Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kathi Alizadeh asked him about that testimony: "The first time you talked to the FBI, which was a week after this happened, you told them a story that had a bunch of lies, isn't that right?"

more:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/ferguson-grand-jury-purpose-not-indictmenthttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/26/1347684/-The-Ferguson-grand-jury-was-never-intended-to-bring-an-nbsp-indictment#

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. We might as well me in 1962 again...this is Jim Crow justice

[HereSince1628]

2. I wonder if this went to a GJ under federal pressure to DO SOMETHING.

The prosecutor complied and did something...

[azmom]

3. There is no other

Conclusion to be made. The fix was in.

[fxstc]

4. you are correct

A standard police investigation at the scene showed no crime was committed.
however, with the mob riots and induced preconceived guilt and racial divisions,
the prosecutor decided to go the extra step and let the people that live in the area see the evidence and see for themselves whether there was any wrongdoing. the end result showed the police did only what was necessary in the situation. The fact is it should have never even went to a grand jury

[BronxBoy]

5. Wow...

There are millions of people who disagree with you.

Let's start with an easy question: As a Black man who has seen the inequalities of the justice system too many times to count, why should I TRUST the police and the prosecutor?

[bluesbassman]

6. Here, let me fix that for you: "A standard Ferguson PD investigation at the scene".

Now the rest of what you wrote makes more sense.

[notadmblnd]

7. You are partially right, the damn prosecutor should have had the balls to charge Wilson with murder

himself. Fucking KKKowards, both the prosecutor and Wilson.

[noiretextatique]

8. yeah, sure

and MLK would have totally approved of all of this, because clearly Wilson saw the "demon" in Brown's character. And when it happens again, you can trot out this same old song.

[GitRDun]

9. The problem with your thought is the word "standard"

You are correct, it was a "standard" investigation. The reality is the "standard" in these types of investigations is to sweep shooting unarmed black people under the rug as soon as possible.

You want to know why people are protesting the Ferguson decision, do a little research:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025435148

Challenge yourself to find as many unarmed white people that were killed by police in the last decade. There won’t be many, that’s for sure. We watch these protests from afar with NO IDEA how bad it hurts to live that result in those communities.

Here’s a little thought for you. This Thanksgiving, be thankful if you are white and pray for the grace to understand what you are seeing on the news before judging it.

[fxstc]

11. no thank you

thank you very much but i'm happy with the color God gave me ( not white)
I didn't judge anything.

[GitRDun]

16. hahaha ok

[BrotherIvan]

12. MIRT

[JEB]

14. Yes, PLEASE!

[BrotherIvan]

18. Do you know how to contact them?

I don't know if just saying it in a thread is some kind of bat signal.

[JEB]

21. No idea.

[GitRDun]

17. Amen!!!!

[fxstc]

10. ok

I would agree minorities in this country get the shaft from law enforcement, particularly in the Ferguson Area.
These are injustices that need to get fixed and soon. However we are talking about the Michael Brown shooting
and while tragic was justified. Now can get focus on what we can do about the oppression of minorities particularly
by law enforcement?

[JEB]

13. Justified by a kangaroo court.

Fucking lying bullshit steeped in racism.

[fxstc]

15. Justified by fellow Feruson citizens

12 actual citizens of Ferguson are the ones who looked at the evidence, and cleared the officer.

[JEB]

19. Was the GJ informed of DW's previous firing?

Prosecutor raising money for the perpetrator of murder.

[BrotherIvan]

20. He wasn't cleared. The grand jury failed to indict.

You have no fucking clue what you're talking about. But I guess Fox News said so.

[JEB]

22. Darren Wilson Prosecutor Defends Police officer, Smears Dead Teen

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Kanagaroo-Kourts--Darren-by-Danny-Weil-Courage_Dead-Bodies_Defendent-attorney_Law-141126-269.html

From the link:
Bizarrely, McCulloch seemed to act as Wilson defense attorney rather than his prosecutor. And painting the victim, Brown, as both a robber and an assaulter smeared the name of the deceased teen whose voice was not heard at the grand jury proceeding. This was repugnant and of course a betrayal of justice.

<snip>
The verdict was a sad day for America and even a sadder one for the families and protestors who had the courage to stand up to the racism and inequality inherent in the decrepit system we call capitalism. More killings of young black men will occur and the same playbook will be used. It is time to organize a movement that can fight back and halt the killings of young black men that has become a sport in America.