Sunday, August 17, 2014

Ferguson Update: Shooter Identified, Curfew Mandated, Tanks Return

photo 0fb50c3f-4b4e-4d1c-bb18-cf1c2b0d5124.jpg

Previous Related Posts:
Journalists Attacked and Arrested in Ferguson
Ferguson Missouri Uses Militarized Police on Protestors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Developments in Ferguson, Missouri:

On Friday, August 15, 2014, the Chief of Police released the name of Darren Wilson, the cop who killed Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson.

From Huffington Post
When asked about Wilson, Jackson said he is "a gentleman, a quiet officer" who found the incident "devastating."
"He never intended for any of this to happen," Jackson said.

Apparently, Darren Wilson was allowed to leave town with his family after the shooting:

From USA Today
No one answered at Wilson's door in his home in suburban Crestwood, Mo. A police officer keeping an eye on the house said Wilson and his family left days ago.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said that Wilson had moved into the neighborhood less than a year ago. She described him as " tall and slim" and that she would see him walking his dog in the neighborhood of mostly single-story brick homes. She said she didn't know he was the cop until this morning when Crestwood police informed residents that he was involved and the neighborhood would be getting attention.

On the same day they announced the name of the shooter, Police released video of Michael Brown allegedly stealing cigars at a convenience store, as if that explained the cold-blooded way he was shot down in the middle of a residential street.



From MSNBC.com
According to the police report... video surveillance allegedly showed Brown in an altercation with a store employee on Aug. 9. Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, grabbed cigars from the store and behind the counter, the police report said. Before they left the store, the employee attempted to stop Brown from taking the merchandise. Brown grabbed the employee by the shirt and pushed him into a display rack in the store, the report said, and Brown and Johnson left the store with the cigars.
But Darren Wilson, the officer who stopped Brown, wasn’t even aware that Brown was a suspect in the robbery, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said Friday afternoon. The officer initially stopped Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, because the pair was walking in the middle of a residential street, Jackson said, an admission that provoked outrage from Brown’s family and attorneys.

But Police Chief Thomas Jackson later told a different version of the story too, which made it seem as if the truth matters less than justifying the murder of Michael Brown.

Via USA Today
Hours later, however, Jackson told a slightly different story to CNN and NBC, saying that Wilson noticed Brown was carrying a box of cigars that had been reported stolen. Wilson, he said, initially stopped Brown for blocking traffic, but as he began driving past Brown, he noticed Brown was holding cigars.
At that point, Wilson "made the connection" that Brown might have been involved in a theft that had just been broadcast on police radio, Jackson said.
It's not part of our justice system to kill people for stealing cigars, or even for jaywalking. What the hell is Chief Jackson thinking? How is the knowledge of a petty theft a mitigating factor in this case?
So there goes even more credibility from the Police Department.

What really happened? Hopefully the FBI and Justice Department are reading These Live Tweets from the scene when Brown was shot.

Also there were other witnesses on scene:







Statement from the Family of Michael Brown and Their Attorneys

"Michael Brown’s family is beyond outraged at the devious way the police chief has chosen to disseminate piece mil information in a manner intended to assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of his person in broad daylight.
There is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender.
The prolonged release of the officer’s name and then the subsequent alleged information regarding a robbery is the reason why the family and the local community have such distrust for the local law enforcement agencies.
It is no way transparent to release the still photographs alleged to be Michael Brown and refuse to release the photographs of the officer that executed him.
The police strategy of attempting to blame the victim will not divert our attention, from being focused on the autopsy, ballistics report and the trajectory of the bullets that caused Michael’s death and will demonstrate to the world this brutal execution of an unarmed teenager."
Benjamin L Crump, Esq.
Anthony D. Gray, Esq.
Daryl D. Parks, Esq.

It was announced by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon that the State Patrol, led by Ron Johnson, was going to take over after the city was roundly criticized for the militarization of police forces against a mainly peaceful crowd. The city seemed to calm down on Thursday night, but escalated again on Friday night and through the weekend as tanks and tear gas returned to the streets.










Unfortunately from Friday until Sunday night, the tanks and tear gas returned to the streets, and journalists were "corralled" in one place thanks to a Curfew put in place by the Governor.

From the LA Times
In an unusual declaration for an American city, Gov. Jay Nixon imposed a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew Saturday after fresh violence erupted here amid public anger over the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer.
The governor's curfew and state-of-emergency decree underscored the gravity of the situation in Ferguson, where officials have been unable to calm tempers and racial tensions since the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police Officer Darren Wilson.
Critics, from black leaders in Ferguson to Amnesty International USA, were quick to assail Nixon's move and said it could further infuriate protesters who have gathered on the streets of the St. Louis suburb nightly since Brown's death.

Ferguson is turning into just about everybody's worst nightmare.




Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)