Missouri Guv: Officer Who Shot Teen Should Be Named As Soon As Possible

[cal04]

Source: TPM

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) said Thursday that the identity of the Ferguson police officer who shot an unarmed African-American teen should be released "as expeditiously as possible."

(snip)
"I would hope that the appropriate release of that name with the security around it if necessary to make sure that there's not additional acts of violence be done as expeditiously as possible," Nixon said.

He added that he was "not sure" that a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union to force the release of the police report of the shooting was the best way to make that information public.

"I think it would be an important milestone here to get that out as expeditiously as possible," Nixon said.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/missouri-gov-ferguson-officer-shot-michael-brown

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Me to County Executive Dooley: "Shouldn't the police release the name of the officer?"
Him: "Yes"

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes
Chris Hayes

[AgingAmerican]

1. It's obvious this cop

Is more important to them than the citizens of Ferguson that they are paid to protect.

[arcane1]

3. This cop is more important to them than the citizen of Ferguson that he killed n/t

[AgingAmerican]

6. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++10 Zillion!!

nt

[VanGoghRocks]

10. This may win the internet for today. Sincere hat tip!

[locdlib]

11. Yes. It is an ugly, shameful, disgusting truth.

We all know they are working double overtime to turn Mike into the criminal and ass cop into the victim.

[calimary]

14. Welcome to DU, locdlib!

Glad you're here!

There are posts here that say, in effect, "that ship has sailed." I think it's possible the ship of cover-up and blame-game has also sailed. They will NOT be able to sell this. Too late. Reminds me of the bush/cheney Absolute-Troglodyte, Lizard-Brain, To-Hell-With-The-Consequences response mentality - just go ahead and take a baseball bat to that hornet's nest. That'll fix it. That'll show 'em. And that worked SOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo well in Iraq, now, didn't it!

[heaven05]

15. hell

this cop is going to file for disability, PTSD, and get it. He might keep his job even there or if fired in some other bundyland haven. Tis america you know.

[alp227]

2. Direct link to Chris Hayes tweet

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/500025780953686017

[BeyondGeography]

4. "As expeditiously as possible."

That ship has sailed, Gov.

[kath]

5. yeah, "expeditious" would have been days and days ago.

[Live and Learn]

13. +1 nt

[olddad56]

7. or charged with murder as soon as possible.

[LiberalArkie]

8. Named... so that they can honor him?

[jonjensen]

9. By any means necessary. Malcolm X

No justice No peace non violence yes submission NO! Shut ferguson missouri down! On strike shut it down! Nothing in or out of the town till justice close the roads with protestors and if the ignorant southern white trash do something stupid then let it begin!

[calimary]

18. Welcome to DU, jonjensen!

Great to have you join us! I would not advocating shutting the town down because that would not be helpful to the community there. Like it or not, police folks, THESE ARE NONCOMBATANTS. This is NOT the Green Zone. This is NOT downtown Baghdad. This is a community in the purported heart of America. And these people are not al Qaeda or ISIS.

[Syntheto]

25. Ignorant Southern White Trash?

... Really? I live in Ferguson and I'm White. I don't see how saying something like that brings anybody together.

But, whatever.

What do you want to see? The cop lynched? I mean, everybody knows that he's guilty. Why waste time on a trial? Maybe he should be dragged through the street by a rope and have everybody take a poke at him. Ya think?

Hey, I didn't see any ignorant Southern White Trash destroying mostly minority-owned businesses on West Florissant. I guess they were on the way, though and got there too late.

Let it begin, eh? Yeah, right.

Thanks to the media for taking a small suburb of ST. LOUIS, with less than 25,000 people and making it the center of some sort of urban Beirut. What should be called the St. Louis riot have been fobbed off on a Working Class town.

Throw the cop under the bus, get the celebrations over with and let us get on with our lives, for christ's sake.

No justice, no peace. I say, no peace, no justice. It works both ways.

But, hey, I'm White, so what do I know?

[riqster]

27. What a load of horseshit.

I'm white, from a rural background, and not a bit offended. Because I know I'm not at fault, so there is nothing to be offended by.

Posts like this are frequently placed by racists who want to claim some sort of quasi-victim status. I'm not saying you are doing that, or that you are a racist, of course.

The "poor pitiful white people" meme was always a load of fertilizer. It still is. We are the dominant ethnic group in America, and no one is oppressing us.

[Syntheto]

30. Maybe I should have included...

... the fact that I'm working class. Does that make a difference? The only 'power' I have is at the ballot box.

Black folk don't like to be called that one thing. Great. When I read redneck or southern white trash, I don't appreciate it either.

If you want to be an apologist for the White race, I'm good with it, that's your thing. There is nothing in my life experience that I feel I personally have to apologize for, and it's not incumbent on you to do it for me, thank you, though.

Racism is wrong. Period.

If that's horseshit to you, put it between two slices of bread an bon appetit.

[riqster]

31. Racism cannot be reversed. Racism requires a power imbalance.

I grew up dirt poor, but I still had it better than the poor kids of color. Anyone who denies that is a liar, a fool, or both. Because I'm white, I still had an advantage because of the power that whites have and blacks don't.

Now, if you want to claim bigotry, go right ahead.

But seeing as how Ferguson is majority black but almost exclusively white-run, anyone peddling the notion that whites there have it just as bad is shoving enough crap to fill a lot of sandwiches. The power in that town is held by whites, and the poorest among them has distinct advantages over any black person in town.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Why is the release of name of the Cop that shot the kid ...

important?

It's not like investigators don't know. Nor, is it like the name won't be released at some point during the investigation.

So why is it important that the name be released now?

[heaven05]

16. on principle????

[1StrongBlackMan]

19. That, to me, is NOT ...

A good reason, e specially in this touchy time. I think we really must seriously balance the due process and privacy rights of the officer against the public's right to know.

Keeping the information under wraps protects the officer's (and his family's) privacy rights and protects his safety. Disclosure promotes, what?

[heaven05]

29. okay

if you say so.

[calimary]

17. I'd guess it's because the optics are shit at the moment.

The optics on this are just shit. It CLEARLY conveys to the community that there's something to hide. That they're keeping something from the public - the same public that pays police salaries and funds police operations with their tax money. That's public information. Every bit as much as the identities of any looters are. We're talking about what appears to be, or is alleged to be, a cover-up of a murder. That police department works for the PUBLIC.. And therefore is ANSWERABLE to the public. And if the retort comes back - no, they don't, they work for the police commission or the governor or whatever - well, the governor works for the public, too. And therefore is ANSWERABLE to the public. These people's jobs and positions and authority comes from being PUBLIC SERVANTS.

And especially by now, seems to me there's been plenty of time to get the wife and kids of this officer, or whatever family there is, out of harm's way so they can't be targeted by nogoodniks. And the officer involved needs to step up, own up, and answer for it.

[1StrongBlackMan]

20. I agree, the optics are ...

For shit. But I have no problem with keeping the name under wraps for just the reason you present ... the safety of the officer and his family.

I have no doubt that those investigating the shooting know his identity. I, also, am fully confident that there will be disclosure, in time.

My concern is a fear of the vigilante "justice" that is part and parcel to the American experience.

[madville]

21. That would be terrible legal advice

"And the officer involved needs to step up, own up, and answer for it"

Any attorney that would advise their client they should do the above during a potential criminal investigation should be disbarred.

We all want to know the truth and see justice take it's course but some of these expectations are unrealistic, especially given the nature of our legal system.

[calimary]

23. And I'm not a lawyer and don't seek to be on his legal team.

I don't know who he is or how to reach him. Not interested in doing so. He's entitled to the best defense he can get, of course. I would wonder, though, depending on how the eyewitness accounts and other evidence starts to pile up (and what I heard one young woman detail on "The Last Word" tonight sounded pretty damning), if perhaps that ultimately would be his best defense, appealing to the mercy of the court. Although I would guess he'd plead not guilty if this ever went all the way to a trial. Again, I'm not a lawyer. And I'm not here to give the shooter legal advice. I'm also on the side of justice for Michael Brown.

[sendero]

22. There was a segment on NPR..

..... where they interviewed a lawyer or somesuch and she was quite clear that the community knew the name of the officer. Whether or not the PD released the name, everyone that wanted to know knew it.

[riqster]

28. She was the lone black city councilwoman.

[marshall]

24. It's important to the press

Every news crew wants to be first in line to camp outside the cop's home, interview family members, and dish the scoops.

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. Yeah, That's about right ...

I would think differently, if there weren't 3 separate investigations going on and/or the shooting had fell off the media page after a day ... but in this instance, the release of the name does nothing be feed the entertainment sharks.