Ferguson Part Deux - No charges to be filed!

[jazzcatastrophe]

<p>

Young black males commit a disproportionate amount of the crime in this country. The real crime wave is not police officers shooting black males but black males shooting each other.

Most of the “crime” committed by young black males is drug related (possession, dealing, etc). Young white males who are in possession of drugs or dealing rarely face the same level of charges as their black peers. I know plenty of people (white) from my high school and college who were caught in possession of drugs or selling drugs and none of them ever had to do anything other than pay a fine or do some community service, or at worst be sent to a rehabilitation center in the middle of nowhere, while their black peers are given jail time.</p>

<p>The FACT (and this was my field of research) is that black people are judged more harshly than white people for the same exact moral transgressions. Black criminals are given the death penalty more often than white criminals even when they have committed the same crime or severity.</p>

<p>The real issue is not whether Mike Brown was blameless or not. Whether he committed a crime or not the situation did not warrant his being shot and killed.</p>

[emilybee]

<p>Many autopsy findings, on cross examination at trial, are disputed. </p>

[Iglooo]

<p>

Whether he committed a crime or not the situation did not warrant his being shot and killed.

</p>

<p>To know that, we need to know if Wilson felt his life was in danger. Brown was not killed for robbing a store. Let’s refrain from dramatizing an already hot issue. He was killed because he attacked the officer and made him feel his life was threatened. The question should be Was Wilson justified to feel so threatened?</p>

[marie1234]

<p>None of that should have anything to do with this case. This case is about 90 seconds of chaos where a police officer was being attacked by a violent young man on his way home after a robbery. And, it is about whether his actions warranted the use of deadly force… Or. it should be.</p>

[TatinG]

<p>Should the officer have waited until he was attacked again? He saw Brown reaching into his waistband? Does he have to wait until he actually sees a gun? When the guy is 8 feet away? </p>

[sorghum]

<p>Having been a middle-aged very white male visiting the US over the years, I am almost shocked how polite and respectful every police officer I have ever encountered has been (after stops for speeding, back light out, that sort of thing). The stops always end in some combination of smiles, handshakes, “welcome to our country”, "you take care, “just drive a little slower”, etc. I have never been issued a ticket. It is pretty obvious that the dynamics of interaction are TOTALLY different if you don’t look (and maybe also dress and speak) in a particular way.</p>

[emilybee]

<p>“He was killed because he attacked the officer and made him feel his life was threatened. The question should be Was Wilson justified to feel so threatened?”</p>

<p>The officer’s testimony was never subjected to cross examination. </p>

<p>“Should the officer have waited until he was attacked again? He saw Brown reaching into his waistband? Does he have to wait until he actually sees a gun? When the guy is 8 feet away?”</p>

<p>Michael Brown’s friend says that never happened. </p>

<p>I look forward to the civil suit where all the “facts” are subjected to cross examination and a jury hears both side’s witnesses cross examined. </p>

[marie1234]

<p>The dynamics are different for a number of reasons. Being a robbery suspect holding the evidence is one of them. As is punching the cop 10 times and trying to grab his gun…for starters.</p>

[TatinG]

<p><a href=“FBI — Expanded Homicide Data Table 3”>http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_3_murder_offenders_by_age_sex_and_race_2012.xls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Statistics on murder offenders in 2012. </p>

<p>The science, the forensics, supported the officer. Witnesses are biased.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>As far as I can tell the protestors are destroying their own backyard,( & that of others) because they can.
That doesn’t make sense to me.
What does it accomplish?
In the next county, 13 inmates have died in police custody in the last four years. Hardly a blip of public attention.
This young man turned himself in for a marijuana infraction, ( which is now legal in Washington state).
He had a severe dairy allergy and died after being served oatmeal, despite requesting help from the guards who ignored him.
<a href=“Marijuana Inmate With Allergy Dies After Being Given Oatmeal | Toke of the Town”>http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/10/marijuana_inmate_with_allergy_dies_after_being_giv.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[mathmom]

<p>According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic being a policeman is not in the top 10 for job fatality rate. And of the police who die on jobs less than a third were due to homicides. <a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice; </p>

[emilybee]

<p>“The science, the forensics, supported the officer. Witnesses are biased.”</p>

<p>I see nothing it your cite which say that. </p>

<p>Was the science and forensics subjected to cross examination? </p>

<p>How have you determined the witnesses are biased? What facts do you have that the witnesses are biased? </p>

[marie1234]

<p>Was the science and forensics subjected to cross examination?</p>

<p>Almost. The hired experts testified.</p>

[sally305]

<p>

As is punching the cop 10 times and trying to grab his gun…for starters.

</p>

<p>This whole punching thing is BS. Just look at his “injuries” that were photographed after the killing. You might have to zoom in as they are not really visible to the naked eye. My teenage daughter has gotten more scuffed up in dance class.</p>

<p><a href=“The Photos of Darren Wilson's Injury: A Bruise - The Atlantic”>The Photos of Darren Wilson's Injury: A Bruise - The Atlantic;

[emilybee]

<p>“Almost. The hired experts testified.”</p>

<p>Were any of the experts cross examined by opposing counsel? </p>

[marie1234]

<p>There is really nothing else to say if people are going to dismiss testimony and physical evidence both of which support a scuffle and the fact that the young man was the initial aggressor. The prosecutor gave them everything and let them decide which I think he did because he knew there was no cause for an arrest but didn’t want to be the bad guy. Arresting a cop for murder because of a shooting in the line of duty means you have to believe he just lost it one afternoon and decided to kill a black kid in the middle of a public street. I have trouble with that theory, but many do not.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>Is there going to be public outrage over this young mans death?
<a href=“Body found amid violent Ferguson protests investigated as homicide: police”>National News - New York Daily News;
Any truth to conservative reports that Louis Head, is a former gang leader?</p>

[sally305]

<p>

There is really nothing else to say if people are going to dismiss testimony and physical evidence both of which support a scuffle and the fact that the young man was the initial aggressor.

</p>

<p>That’s your opinion. We don’t know what the facts are. That’s why most people prefer jury trials out in the open to secret grand jury proceedings run by biased officials.</p>

[Hondu]

<p>Ezra Klein’s article on Wilson’s testimony shows why so many would have preferred a preliminary hearing for cross examination:

…I mean that in the literal sense of the term: “difficult or impossible to believe.” But I want to be clear here. I’m not saying Wilson is lying. I’m not saying his testimony is false. I am saying that the events, as he describes them, are simply bizarre. His story is difficult to believe.

<a href=“Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally. - Vox”>Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally. - Vox;

<p>How the rest of the world sees it.
Spain’s El Pais

“Most are led by young blacks and while many didn’t know the deceased, the case has united them, ” the newspaper writes. "This is not America’s or the black community’s problem. It is a global problem of people who feel oppressed,”

</p>

<p>France’s Le Figaro:

…the protests as the continuation of 50 years of racial riots in the U.S. sparked by altercations between police officers and members of the black community. “Since the end of segregation, the same scenario has repeated itself at steady intervals.”

</p>

<p>Israel’s Haaretz

In Ferguson – as in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank – crises must be used as an opportunity for out-of-the-box solutions that could prevent the next explosion.” Sommer writes. “It’s not just the right time to solve big problems – it is the only time.”

</p>

<p><a href=“What Ferguson Means: The View From Abroad | HuffPost The World Post”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;

<p>There is a bigger problem than Ferguson. Is the USA going to do something about it or wait until it blows?</p>

[emilybee]

<p>“The prosecutor gave them everything and let them decide which I think he did because he knew there was no cause for an arrest but didn’t want to be the bad guy.”</p>

<p>It is abundantly obvious that this prosecutor wanted this result. But, he is supposed to be representing the State, not the defendant - yet he treated the officer as his client, instead of the State. And the witnesses for Brown as the defendants. </p>