<p>He might have shot someone with what gun? Nobody disputes that he was unarmed when the cop killed him. Police don’t get to execute people of the wrong color just because in some alternate reality they might shoot somebody. </p>
<p>Ah, kill them before they might hurt someone. Got it. </p>
<p>Sorry if that was confusing, I meant the store owner could have shot Brown for theft, it does happen. Not saying Brown deserved to be shot.</p>
<p>But that would be a completely different situation. Moreover, it would be a situation on videotape.</p>
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<p>And one which they likely had a part in not only provoking through past issues like the past incident discussed in the article I posted earlier, but also inflamed by acting more like an occupational military force from the getgo rather than defusing tensions. </p>
<p>Sending in armored vehicles, snipers, and cops armed with military grade weapons isn’t exactly a good way to defuse tensions. Even MO’s governor has stated as much as seen here:</p>
<p><a href=“Gov. Jay Nixon: Ferguson police response example of "too much armor" - CBS News”>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gov-jay-nixon-ferguson-police-response-example-of-too-much-armor/</a></p>
<p>The arrest/attacking of journalists only underscored all this and made it too blatant to ignore by the newswatching public.</p>
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<p>I’m very glad I’m not a policeman. I wouldn’t want to risk my life and my family’s support while protecting people from the type of guy that Michael Brown showed himself to be in that video. Given that one of the witnesses was helping him steal from the convenience store clerk, I’m not sure what kind of a trial or investigation you’re going to get here.</p>
<p>I’d have a smidgeon of respect for the reporters if their response to the released video wasn’t to complain about its existence. It speaks volumes about motives, and the filters through which information are disseminated. The press is losing its high ground with some of its behaviour, and it should be concerned about that…but it isn’t. </p>
<p>I’m not saying this police department or the officer in question is any example of what should happen. Clearly that’s not the case. But I don’t think this is the same as Trayvon Martin being hunted down and murdered by George Zimmerman.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, which reporter complained about the existence of the video? Links, please? I noticed several reporters complaining about a different thing, namely that the police chief deceptively led reporters to believe that the officer knew about the convenience store robbery. The press don’t like to be deceived by police chiefs intent on blackening the character of dead teenagers, and neither do I. </p>
<p>To be sure, the kid apparently robbed the store. However, (A) the officer that shot him apparently didn’t know about the robber and (B) the penalty for small-time crime is not death by execution. </p>
<p>I’m glad you’re not a cop too, dadx, if you don’t know that cops are in charge of protecting everyone, small-time crooks as well as Sunday school teachers.</p>
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<p>The complaints seem to be more about why is it Ferguson PD saw fit to release videos and other information damaging to the gunned down victim while refusing to release other pieces of information…such as the police report of the shooting itself. Especially considering that department’s chief admitted the cop involved in the shooting didn’t know he was a robbery suspect and stopped him because he was jaywalking down the street*.</p>
<p>A legitimate complaint considering the actions Ferguson’s PD and the associated police forces under its leadership and moreso considering the past troubled history of that department’s actions regarding police brutality and lax practices in documenting incidents and maintaining those records. </p>
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<li>Something many NYC residents and NE urban folks do on a daily basis without having cops jumping all over them about it.<br></li>
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<p>Well, I’d like all of the information. Unfortunately false information was used to inflame the community and solidify public opinion against the police. The biggest issue now seems to be whether or not he had surrendered before being shot. That should be provable with forensics.
I hope.</p>
<p>“But I also have to say: if Brown really did rough up a store clerk in order to steal some cigars, it causes me to lose interest in the fact that he was about to go to college, and his family’s claims that he didn’t cause problems, etc., etc.”</p>
<p>Amen. And then I don’t want to hear how it’s “unconscionable” to shoot fleeing criminals, because you know what’s also unconscionable? Stealing something from a convenience store. </p>
<p>We have a running joke in our family that whenever some small time criminal gets shot, he always miraculously turns out to have been an “honor student.” </p>
<p>No one has complained about the existence of the video. The press and many of us are expressing anger that Chief Jackson mislead everyone in his press conference. </p>
<p>Apparently Captain Johnson was too, as Chief Jackson was forced to go out later and correct the story. </p>
<p>LOL!</p>
<p>A few observations and some local flavor…</p>
<p>The robbery report and stop of pedestrians and shooting involved only the Ferguson police department. And as we all agree, shooting a fleeing suspect, even if he just hit you, is not justified.</p>
<p>Whether or not Officer Wilson knew that Brown was a suspect in the robbery, Brown knew that he had just robbed a convenience store, so he may have assumed the officer knew.</p>
<p>I didn’t report it on CC because it was a rumor, but the rumor that a convenience store had been robbed by someone matching Brown’s description has been going around from the beginning, so I am sure that the press was indeed asking for confirmation one way or the other.</p>
<p>Being able to smell tear gas in your yard from the commotion a couple of blocks over is not the same as being teargassed in your yard. </p>
<p>The heavily armed response was let by the St. Louis County police, not the Ferguson police. It really was out of their hands at that time. The new chief of the St Louis County police formerly was the head of the county SWAT team, so he did what he knew, and we can all see it was overkill.</p>
<p>The County government is led by the County Executive. The current long-time executive is an African American Democrat, Charlie Dooley. He has been strangely quiet during all of this. Anyone see him at all? His predecessor was a white Republican, the county is a little purple. Dooley just lost the primary election, so he is a lame duck. One of the most visible advertisements for the candidate who beat him featured a strong endorsement from Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullough. </p>
<p>Dooley just asked the State to appoint a special prosecutor, his office claims that McCullough can’t do an unbiased review.</p>
<p>I agree it seems to be taking a long time, but would rather have things thoroughly vetted before being released than have information come out an then have to be corrected. My observation from complex investigations is that it takes a while to get to the facts. When information is released and then changed in an atmosphere like this the cries of LIAR! COVERUP! tend to drown out the people trying provide the information.</p>
<p>Pizza girl, are you really equating stealing $48 with shooting an unarmed person who was too far away to be a threat? </p>
<p>Wow. You know what’s really unconscionable? The criminal justice system of the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>We really don’t know what happened, yet. Or why he was shot. Although it’s a little unlikely some will ever think it was justified. That’s the problem with these cases where people lock down their positions before knowing the facts.</p>
<p>I will happily change my view on this case when provided with unbiased facts. Until then…what else am I to do?</p>
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<p>Flossy, forget my first question, as to why they fired tear gas at the camera crew. OK they panicked to the point that they couldn’t distinguish a camera on a tripod from an actual threat. Fine.</p>
<p>The second question was: Why did they turn the camera to the ground? There must have been a reason. They did not look terribly overwhelmed when they did that; in fact, they were quite deliberate and careful about it. And if in fact, they were overwhelmed, why were 3 or 4 cops fiddling with a camera anyway? Why weren’t they helping with crowd control?</p>
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<p>However, that information has no bearing on the shooting itself considering even Ferguson PD’s own chief admitted the cop who was involved in the shooting didn’t know Brown was a robbery suspect at the moment of the encounter which led to the shooting. </p>
<p><a href=“http://online.wsj.com/articles/police-name-darren-wilson-as-officer-in-ferguson-missouri-michael-brown-shooting-1408108371”>http://online.wsj.com/articles/police-name-darren-wilson-as-officer-in-ferguson-missouri-michael-brown-shooting-1408108371</a></p>
<p>Thus, that information is effectively irrelevant to the shooting itself and more importantly, in the mindset of the cop who shot at that very moment. </p>
<p>Moreover, considering Ferguson PD’s past history of police brutality, absurdly contradictory testimony in one such case, and apparent lax standards in documenting and maintaining records of police brutality cases…seems like this police department already had serious issues which likely inflamed tensions with the residents of Ferguson. </p>
<p>Here’s an article I posted earlier about one such prior incident and absurd contradictory testimony by cops involved:</p>
<p><a href=“The Day Ferguson Cops Were Caught in a Bloody Lie”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/15/the-day-ferguson-cops-were-caught-in-a-bloody-lie.html</a></p>
<p>This shooting was the catalyst which sparked a riot which is likely a product of such accumulated tensions. </p>
<p>I can’t conceive of a way in which I’d find this killing justified, given that the officer was separated from the kid by tens of feet… Even if the cop knew the kid had been involved in the strong-arm robbery, the kid was not a mortal threat to the cop or anyone else. What would be a justification, Flossy? What would be the story that made this killing justified?</p>