As the violent and terrifying Ferguson siege by militarized police forces, heads into Day 10, I'm still awed by the courage, anger, and desperate resistance shown by the mostly-peaceful and disciplined community protests against overwhelming odds. More live (on MSNBC) late night images of courageous youngsters ducking and dancing their way past armored vehicles, through the barrage of rubber bullets and tear-gas canisters, even daring to pick them up and return them to their rightful owners, jar memories of Watts '65, Harlem '64, Prague '68, Chicago '68, Tienanmen '89, Tahrir Square '2013 and Gaza last month.
Yes, 10 days since the murder of Michael Brown by Officer Wilson and still no arrest. Still no charges filed. What we know for sure from the various autopsy reports is that Brown was shot 6 times (including once in the palm of his raised hand and one in the top of his skull) as he stood passively, hands in the air. How many more autopsy reports do we need to see and how many federal investigations do we need to take place before an arrest is even made and charges filed? The struggle continues. No justice, no peace!
CAUTION... Three of Ferguson's four public schools remain closed but that doesn't mean children aren't getting Civics lessons from street teachers after being abandoned by city leaders and school administrators. A note posted on the Jennings School District website said the decision was made "out of an abundance of caution," and that the district anticipated starting the school year today.
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| No gas or shots fired against Cliven Bundy |
"What we know for sure from the various autopsy reports is that Brown was shot 6 times..,"
ReplyDeleteI agree we do know that he was shot 6 times.
...,(including once in the palm of his raised hand and one in the top of his skull) as he stood passively, hands in the air."
We do not know that his hand was raised. We do not know that he stood passively, hands in the air. All we have are some eyewitness statements to the press to that effect. We also have eyewitness statements that Brown was charging the officer.
So as of yet, we have nothing to warrant charges or an arrest. If that was the case, every officer who kills someone should be immediately charged and arrested.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to treat a comment like your's seriously when you won't even sign your name to it, but I'll try.
I don't want to get hung up on the question of whether or not Officer Wilson is guilty or not. I am much more concerned with the national pattern of police violence against people of color, a syndrome which appears to be growing in recent months.
I don't think you really need to worry that "every officer who kills someone would be immediately charged and arrested". A white cop who kills an unarmed black man is rarely, if ever, charged. It just doesn't happen.
In Oakland, California, for example, a study showed that out of 45 officer-involved shootings in the city between 2004 and 2008, 37 of those shot were black. None were white. One-third of the shootings resulted in fatalities. Although weapons were not found in 40 percent of cases, no officers were charged. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/police-shootings-michael-brown-ferguson-black-men
Your dismissal of the eyewitness statements just like that, shows your own bias. Normally, you would think that shooting an unarmed man in front of at least 4 eye witnesses, would lead to charges being filed, whether the shooter is a cop or not.
The cover up, including the Ferguson PD's failure to release and make public the results of their own and the prosecutor's investigation speaks for itself.
If officer Wilson is innocent, let him come forward and face due process instead of running away. I don't know if he's legally guilty of murder, use of excessive force, etc... or not and neither do you. But it seems clear to most, including the Justice Dept. that legal action is called for.
All Officer Wilson got for killing Michael Brown in cold blood was a paid vacation.
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