November 25, 2014

"IT"

After that first shot went off, Wilson testified that Brown stepped back and "looked up at me and had the most intense aggressive face. The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/darren-wilson-testimony-mike-brown-demon

November 25, 2014

THE DAY AFTER IN FERGUSON - By Charles P. Pierce

"It Looks Like A Demon"

"He looked up at me and had the most intense aggressive face. The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up...He was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I'm shooting him...And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn't even there, I wasn't even anything in his way." "

-- Officer Darren Wilson, Testimony To The Grand Jury In The Matter Of The Death Of Michael Brown, 2014.

..................

.......... Darren Wilson cannot be guilty, because then all the institutions of our government are, and we are, as well, because we told Darren Wilson to protect us from people who look to us like demons.

Right from the beginning, when Governor Jay Nixon refused to name a special prosecutor and left the case in the hands of Bob McCulloch, the greasy and hopelessly conflicted local district attorney, this case was headed for the biggest public fix since the 1919 World Series. The people in Ferguson knew it. The police knew it. Even Nixon knew it; he declared a state of emergency a week before the grand jury's decision was handed down. McCulloch simply abandoned his duties as a prosecutor and dumped the evidence on the members if the grand jury without giving them any direction at all. Both of them relied, tacitly, on the fact that they knew the benefits they all would get of the thousand doubts that we give to the people we empower to take another person's life -- "under the color of law," as the legal jargon has it, and in this case that couldn't be more ironic.

And whoever it was that prepped Wilson for his testimony deserves a raise. There is the "hand in the waistband" defense, which you hear in almost every police-related shooting. Wilson was able to convince a grand jury that he was physically intimidated by someone who was exactly the same height. He was able to convince them that he was struck in the head with a closed fist three times, and that he suffered what appeared to be nothing more than a severe razor burn. He was able to convince them that Michael Brown had become something else -- a "demon" -- and that Wilson's actions in killing him was an act of exorcism on behalf of the entire community. He was able to convince them of something that the elected officials of the community already needed to believe.

This is a perilous time for the country, and for many of the citizens living in it. Our police are armed and trained as you would arm and train an occupying army. They are given body armor, and armored vehicles. They have been removed, physically and psychologically, from the people they are paid to serve, the people who invest in them to take the life of another. And there is a reason because there always is a reason, when some citizen winds up dead. The argument always is that you, the citizen, do not know the pressure these people face, that you never will experience a split-second life and death decision, and that the benefit of a thousand doubts is always justified because, otherwise, you will not be made safe by the people you empower to take a life. As regards to all the incidents cited above, not one person ever served one day in jail. This because there were reasons, and there are always reasons.

And the people who complain, and the people who riot, and the people who march and shout and scream for some kind of justice are just ungrateful because it is the job of the people we empower to take lives to keep them safe from each other, and don't they understand that? Don't they understand that Darren Wilson's exorcised the demon on their behalf as well, that Michael Brown died so that they can be safe? That is the reason, and there is always a reason.

..............................



much more:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/There_Is_Always_A_Reason

November 25, 2014

‘Fox & Friends’ comforts Darren Wilson’s friend: ‘What has been the toughest part’ for him?

‘Fox & Friends’ comforts Darren Wilson’s friend: ‘What has been the toughest part’ for him?


................

“What do you want people to know about Officer Wilson?” Hasselbeck asked. “What kind of guy is he? Who is he?”

“He’s just a cop who responding to a call for a baby — an African-American baby — who was gravely ill,” Roorda insisted. “It wasn’t his area. He responded because he’s there to serve that community, and he observed a crime in progress — a suspect from a crime that had just occurred — as he was leaving there. And the rest is history now.”

In conclusion, Roorda asserted that the Brown family should be comforted by the fact that the prosecutor provided “every single piece of physical evidence, every witness, every witness statement” to the grand jury.

“And now he’s being criticized harshly for introducing all that evidence,” he opined. “Imagine the tsunami of criticism that would have followed if he had withheld even one piece of evidence.”






MORE sap:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/fox-friends-comforts-darren-wilsons-friend-what-has-been-the-toughest-part-for-him/

November 25, 2014

Holder's statement (which gives me a little hope)

“While the grand jury proceeding in St. Louis County has concluded, the Justice Department’s investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown remains ongoing. Though we have shared information with local prosecutors during the course of our investigation, the federal inquiry has been independent of the local one from the start, and remains so now. Even at this mature stage of the investigation, we have avoided prejudging any of the evidence. And although federal civil rights law imposes a high legal bar in these types of cases, we have resisted forming premature conclusions.

“Michael Brown’s death was a tragedy. This incident has sparked a national conversation about the need to ensure confidence between law enforcement and the communities they protect and serve. While constructive efforts are underway in Ferguson and communities nationwide, far more must be done to create enduring trust. The Department will continue to work with law enforcement, civil rights, faith and community leaders across the country to foster effective relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve and to improve fairness in the criminal justice system overall. In addition, the Department continues to investigate allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the Ferguson Police Department.

“Though there will be disagreement with the grand jury's decision not to indict, this feeling should not lead to violence. Those who decide to participate in demonstrations should remember the wishes of Michael Brown's parents, who have asked that remembrances of their son be conducted peacefully. It does not honor his memory to engage in violence or looting. In the coming days, it will likewise be important for local law enforcement authorities to respect the rights of demonstrators, and deescalate tensions by avoiding excessive displays—and uses—of force.”


http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-holder-statement-conclusion-grand-jury-proceeding-shooting-michael-brown

November 25, 2014

Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally. --- by Ezra Klein on November 25, 2014

Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally.
Updated by Ezra Klein on November 25, 2014, 11:00 a.m. ET

..............

Let's take a breath and recap. Wilson sees two young black men walking in the middle of the street. He pulls over and politely asks them to use the sidewalk. They refuse. He asks again, still polite. Brown tells Wilson — again, a uniformed police officer in a police car — "fuck what you have to say." Wilson stops his car, tries to get out, and Brown slams the car door on him and then begins punching him through the open window.

What happens next is the most unbelievable moment in the narrative. And so it's probably best that I just quote Wilson's account at length on it.

So Brown is punching inside the car. Wilson is scrambling to deflect the blows, to protect his face, to regain control of the situation. And then Brown stops, turns to his left, says to his friend, "Here, hold these," and hands him the cigarillos stolen from Ferguson Market. Then he turns back to Wilson and, with his left hand now freed from holding the contraband goods, throws a haymaker at Wilson.

Every bullshit detector in me went off when I read that passage. Which doesn't mean that it didn't happen exactly the way Wilson describes. But it is, again, hard to imagine. Brown, an 18-year-old kid holding stolen goods, decides to attack a cop and, while attacking him, stops, hands his stolen goods to his friend, and then returns to the beatdown. It reads less like something a human would do and more like a moment meant to connect Brown to the robbery.




MORE (please read it all):
http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7281165/darren-wilsons-story-side

November 25, 2014

What happened on Twitter when the Darren Wilson grand jury decision was announced

http://srogers.cartodb.com/viz/64f6c0f4-745d-11e4-b4e1-0e4fddd5de28/embed_map

November 25, 2014

Racism is baked right into the foundation

racism is asphalt, racism is a bullet

http://fredrikdeboer.com/2014/11/25/racism-is-asphalt-racism-is-a-bullet/

November 25, 2014

Witness #40

Witness #40
Posted by Betty Cracker at 10:44 am
Nov
25
2014

........

By a series of amazing coincidences, this person magically ended up witnessing events, and his or her perspective aligned perfectly with Officer Wilson’s account. Witness #40’s testimony comes in the form of handwritten journal entries, which you can view for yourself here. http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1370734-witness-40-journal-entry.html

Here’s how it starts:

The “journal” goes on to recount how Witness #40 takes a series of wrong turns and coincidentally turns up at the scene of the Brown shooting moments before it happens and sees the whole thing unfold. His or her account includes the following:



The story is helpfully populated with “sweet” and “nice” local people whose wonderful qualities Witness #40 notes in the journal, qualities a racist who was attempting to create a post-hoc justification for a widely publicized police shooting would totally NOT appreciate, let alone record in a personal diary that later inexplicably found its way into evidence files. (wink-wink-nudge-nudge).

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1370734-witness-40-journal-entry.html
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/11/25/witness-40/

November 25, 2014

tears.....

Tears roll down the cheek of Lesley McSpadden, the mother of slain teenager Michael Brown. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

November 25, 2014

How the media would cover the events in Ferguson were this another country:

Chinese and Russian officials are warning of a potential humanitarian crisis in the restive American province of Missouri, where ancient communal tensions have boiled over into full-blown violence.

“We must use all means at our disposal to end the violence and restore calm to the region,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments to an emergency United Nations Security Council session on the America crisis.

.........................................

“”we can and should support moderate forces who can bring stability to America””

America has been roiled by political instability and protests in recent years, which analysts warn can create fertile ground for extremists.


READ IT ALL:
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/15/6005587/ferguson-satire-another-country-russia-china