Ferguson Part Deux - No charges to be filed!

[Magnetron]

<p>I’m not sure if anyone else did the math, but “felt like a 5 year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan” would put Michael Brown at nearly 12 feet tall and 1600 pounds.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>I forsee the French Revolution.</p>

[marie1234]

<p>Well, prosecutors do get to decide when to prosecute. My belief is that he decided no but wanted back-up from the community because this case had become so controversial. In reality, it was just another officer involved fatality which happens to white suspects, too. But, rarely gets past the local news.</p>

[TatinG]

<p>Recall that evil officer Wilson (sarcasm) was in the neighborhood answering a baby in distress call. </p>

[sally305]

<p>Speaking of “evil,” Wilson himself described Michael Brown as a “demon.” Somehow I don’t think this guy was well-suited for police work.</p>

[marie1234]

<p>Yes, we need more cops who just let the robbers run away. That would be much better. (sarcasm)</p>

[poetgrl]

<p>In Chicago 80 African American young men have been shot and killed by the police. </p>

[poetgrl]

<p>This year</p>

[sally305]

<p>marie, you are being ridiculous.</p>

<p>Given all the circumstances that just don’t add up I really do hope the Justice Department does its own investigation of the case.</p>

[collegealum314]

<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>

<p>So the police officers acted professionally and you see this as an obvious indictment of the lack of professionalism of the police? </p>

[emilybee]

<p>They are doing two investigations. One of the shooting and one on Ferguson’s police department. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/whats-next-justice-continues-its-probe-of-ferguson-police-department/2014/11/24/f4015a58-7407-11e4-9c9f-a37e29e80cd5_story.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/whats-next-justice-continues-its-probe-of-ferguson-police-department/2014/11/24/f4015a58-7407-11e4-9c9f-a37e29e80cd5_story.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would imagine the Brown family will also file a civil suit against Wilson and perhaps the police department, too. </p>

[Cardinal_Fang]

<p>The prosecutor’s father was a cop who was killed in the line of duty. When I listened to his speech, it sounded like the defense attorney summing up the evidence for his client, the cop… As someone pointed out on Twitter, if the speech had to be that long, there should have been a trial. </p>

<p>I have no doubt that the grand jury worked hard and examined all the evidence they were given. But it didn’t seem to me that there was anyone representing the victim in that proceeding. The prosecutor is supposed to represent the victim, and present the best case he can to charge the shooter, but it was obvious from his speech that he was not doing that. Moreover, in a trial, the jury is carefully selected, whereas the grand jury (which I believe worked hard and honestly) was just whoever was on the grand jury.</p>

<p>In a case this high profile, we should have had a trial, so the witnesses could have been cross-examined and everyone could see it.</p>

<p>In one way, I was sympathetic to the prosecutor-- I never trust eyewitnesses, and I REALLY don’t trust eyewitnesses when they’ve had a chance to hear what other eyewitnesses say. </p>

<p>All of us take what we hear, and make a story in our minds to make sense of what we know. We hear this happened and that happened, and we want an explanation, so we construct one: the suspect was big, he had committed some low level crime, he wasn’t polite, he should have obeyed the officer. But I wonder why so many of those stories end up with innocent black men and boys, or petty black criminals, killed by the police, and white boys and men not getting killed by the police.</p>

<p>Also, do white men who were just killed by the police lie on the street in the hot sun for over four hours in their own neighborhoods, or is this just a black thing?</p>

[collegealum314]

<p>

I’m not sure if anyone else did the math, but “felt like a 5 year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan” would put Michael Brown at nearly 12 feet tall and 1600 pounds.

</p>

<p>Yeah, he was only 6’4" and 300 lbs.</p>

[zoosermom]

<p>

In a case this high profile, we should have had a trial, so the witnesses could have been cross-examined and everyone could see it.

But that’s not how our system works. We don’t indict and try people for the convenience or information of the public. </p>

[emilybee]

<p>Interesting article on the statistics. </p>

<p><a href=“How Often are Unarmed Black Men Shot Down By Police?”>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/24/1324132/-How-Often-are-Unarmed-Black-Men-Shot-Down-By-Police&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[sally305]

<p>WIlson was also 6’4". And armed.</p>

[collegealum314]

<p>

WIlson was also 6’4". And armed

</p>

<p>And 210 lbs. So a 90 lb weight advantage is not significant? He should have just wrestled him to the ground.</p>

[cobrat]

<p>

marie, you are being ridiculous.

</p>

<p>Indeed. She and other commenters on this thread like her are using arguments and points similar to those perceived to be used by the French aristocracy and their hangers-on before the Revolution(“Let them eat cake”), pro-slavery southerners during the antebellum era of the 1850’s, and segregationists during the '50s and '60s.</p>

<p>Ignoring or in complete denial of systemic and individual problems and abuses of power and processes and trying to dump all the blame on those pointing them out or on the victims of such problems and abuses. It’s like they’ve taken a page out of those 3 groups’ talking points and repeated them nearly verbatim. </p>

<p>

So the police officers acted professionally and you see this as an obvious indictment of the lack of professionalism of the police?

</p>

<p>I take it you missed this part of the poster’s point:</p>

<p>

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>

<p>This is the key part of his point…whether the police officer treats someone on the street/car with politeness and professionalism can vary greatly depending on how one is perceived. </p>

<p>Someone who passes for upper/upper-middle class White is extremely unlikely to be treated rudely or unprofessionally unless there’s extreme provocation. </p>

<p>On the other hand, someone who is Black is much more likely to be subject to not only rude unprofessional behavior by police officers, but also having guns pointed at him/her and sometimes even shot while in the act of complying with officer instructions. </p>

<p>It also isn’t unheard of for police officers to fabricate stories to justify physically assaulting and arresting someone as Ferguson PD did in this prior case…and they did it AFTER FINDING OUT THEY GOT THE WRONG MAN AND LIED ABOUT IT IN COURT:</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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[marie1234]

<p>Nothing is unheard of, but people are not prosecuted because of the likelihood or perceived likelihood of whatever. Or, because a misinformed group of protesters would like to trial watch. </p>

[xiggi]

<p>

Indeed. She and other commenters on this thread like her are using arguments and points similar to those perceived to be used by the French aristocracy and their hangers-on before the Revolution(“Let them eat cake”), pro-slavery southerners during the antebellum era of the 1850’s, and segregationists during the '50s and '60s.

</p>

<p>Really, Cobrat? </p>