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FOCUS | Darren Wilson Wasn't Indicted - The System Was |
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Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=28850"><span class="small">Michael Daly, The Daily Beast</span></a>
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Tuesday, 25 November 2014 10:45 |
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Daly writes: "The St. Louis County prosecutor seemed to blame society more than the cop who shot Michael Brown, but he didn't address the race and class issues that set the tone of life in Ferguson."
Too many innocent people are being killed by law enforcement. (photo: AP)
Darren Wilson Wasn't Indicted - The System Was
By Michael Daly, The Daily Beast
25 November 14
The St. Louis County prosecutor seemed to blame society more than the cop who shot Michael Brown, but he didn’t address the race and class issues that set the tone of life in Ferguson.
 olice Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted on Monday, but society itself was.
“For how many years have we been talking about issues that lead to situations like this?” asked St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch. “I don’t want to be here again.”
He went so far as to say, “If the laws are not working, we need to change them.”
McCulloch said this immediately after announcing to the world that under present Missouri law the grand jury had not found reasonable cause to charge Wilson with a crime in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
McCulloch cited specific evidence that led to the decision, noting among other things that Brown’s blood had been found on Wilson’s uniform.
But McCulloch remained vague about the issues that he says we need to address. He has in the past said nothing about a case where Ferguson police officers arrested a man for destruction of property because he bled on their uniforms while they allegedly beat him. One cop who admitted to hitting the man went on to become one of the five whites on the six-member Ferguson City Council.
McCulloch also has not had much to say about the Ferguson Police Department being overwhelmingly white in a city that is 70 percent black. He has not seemed disturbed about blacks in Ferguson being three times as likely as whites to be stopped by the police, twice as likely to be searched when they are, and then twice as likely to be arrested. He has not suggested anything is amiss when Ferguson issues three warrants for every household in a year and residents annually average some $100 per person in fines and court fees.
Years of that set the tone of life in Ferguson when Wilson and Brown encountered each other for 90 tragic seconds in August.
Maybe now McCullough and others in positions of power and influence are ready to address this other body of evidence, along with the larger issues of race and class that extend far beyond Ferguson.
That is certainly the hope of Michael Brown’s father, who was quoted by President Obama after the grand jury’s decision was announced.
“Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer,” the elder Brown had said last week in a public-service video. “No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son’s death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change, positive change, change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone.”
In now citing the father’s words, Obama noted, “Michael’s parents lost more than anyone.”
Obama emphasized that we are a nation of laws and that “we must accept this as the grand jury’s decision to make.” He reminded everyone that “police officers put their lives on the line every single day.”
But he also said we cannot be blind to the tension between the police and minorities, who often feel the cops are not working for the community but against it.
“This is tragic because nobody needs good policing more than poorer neighborhoods with higher crime rates,” Obama said.
He proposed among other things that police departments must better reflect the ethnic makeup of the populace.
“We know that makes a difference,” he said.
He then struck an optimistic note, saying his own life is proof that we have made great progress in matters of race.
“To deny that progress is to deny America’s capacity for change,” he said. “But what is also true is that there are still problems, and communities of color aren’t just making these problems up.”
He added, “These are real issues.”
Even as Obama spoke, a number of protesters in Ferguson either let their anger get the better of them or used the tragedy as an excuse to act out, looting and setting fires and by the sound of it firing guns. They certainly could not be feeling anything close to the hurt being experienced by Brown’s parents, who were continuing to call for peace and progress.
“We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions,” Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden said in a post-decision statement. “While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen.”
They went on, “We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.”
They concluded, “Let’s not just make noise, let’s make a difference.”
Meanwhile, the prosecutor released the grand jury minutes for all to read. The transcript includes Wilson’s testimony, in which he dramatically describes himself as firing to save his own life as an unarmed teenager charged toward him, leaning forward.
“I know if he reaches me, he’ll kill me,” Brown testified. “I remember looking at my sites and firing, all I see is his head and that’s what I shot.”
That final bullet seems to have been instantly fatal. The pain of that loss was still manifest in the dead teen’s father on Friday, as Michael Brown Sr. was filmed walking past the same spot where his son fell. The father had a plastic bag in each hand, containing two of the turkeys he had come to pass out to people in the neighborhood.
“Michael!” a woman called out.
“You still here?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m still here,” she said.
The father gave her a turkey and continued on, having summoned the very best in himself after the worst hurt a father can suffer.
He is someone for whom we should all give thanks as we come to Thanksgiving. He is also a challenge for all of us to join him working to set right a society that the prosecutor himself indicted even while announcing that Wilson would not be charged.
“SEASON’S GREETINGS” reads the sign over the street outside the building housing both the Ferguson Police and the municipal court, the two entities where reform must begin.
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FOCUS | Ferguson: Probable Cause or Reasonable Doubt? |
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Tuesday, 25 November 2014 09:40 |
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Galindez writes: "Let's face it, most grand juries in America are one-sided events where a prosecutor puts on just enough evidence to get a jury to believe there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. It's not the venue where you present all the evidence seeking reasonable doubt."
St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announces the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson Monday in Clayton, Missouri. (photo: Cristina Fletes-Boutte/Reuters)
ALSO SEE: Documents Released in the Ferguson Case
ALSO SEE: The Single Chart That Shows Grand Juries Indict 99.99 Percent of the Time
Ferguson: Probable Cause or Reasonable Doubt?
By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
25 November 14
 et’s face it, most grand juries in America are one-sided events where a prosecutor puts on just enough evidence to get a jury to believe there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. It’s not the venue where you present all the evidence seeking reasonable doubt.
The prosecutor runs a grand jury, there is no defense attorney present, the accused is not represented in the room, and over 9 out of every 10 defendants brought before a grand jury are indicted. There is the old saying that a halfway decent prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich.
That brings us to the case of Darren Wilson. Was there probable cause? Michael Brown was unarmed, he was shot numerous times, and witnesses said his hands were in the air. That’s enough to indict, and if Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor, wanted the grand jury to find probable cause, he could have succeeded.
I listened closely to the whole press conference where Bob McCulloch laid out the evidence presented to the grand jury. What I heard was a prosecutor turned defense attorney seeking reasonable doubt.
Bob McCulloch was not a prosecutor seeking justice for Michael Brown, he served as Darren Wilson’s legal advocate, and instead of asking the grand jury to find probable cause for a trial, he sought reasonable doubt for an acquittal.
Let’s hope the federal prosecutor does his job.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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Dead of Night: The Ferguson Decision |
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Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=11104"><span class="small">Charles Pierce, Esquire</span></a>
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Tuesday, 25 November 2014 07:30 |
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Pierce writes: "Ever since 9/11, when we all began to be told that we were going to have to bend a little bit, and then a little bit more, to authority or else we'd all die, the police in this country have been militarized in their tactics and in their equipment, which is bad enough, but in their attitudes and their mentality, which is far, far worse."
Time Magazine's picture of the week. (photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
ALSO SEE: Police in Utah Kill More People Than Gang Members Do
Dead of Night: The Ferguson Decision
By Charles Pierce, Esquire
25 November 14
 hat seemed for a long time to be the day's most remarkable story concerning police and the citizens they are paid to serve had come out of Utah, of all places. The Salt Lake Tribune had dug in and found that the Salt Lake City police had become more dangerous to the public welfare than are the local drug gangs.
As the tally of fatal police shootings rises, law enforcement watchdogs say it is time to treat deadly force as a potentially serious public safety problem. "The numbers reflect that there could be an issue, and it's going to take a deeper understanding of these shootings," said Chris Gebhardt, a former police lieutenant and sergeant who served in Washington, D.C., and in Utah, including six years on SWAT teams and several training duties. "It definitely can't be written off as citizen groups being upset with law enforcement." Through October, 45 people had been killed by law enforcement officers in Utah since 2010, accounting for 15 percent of all homicides during that period. A Salt Lake Tribune review of nearly 300 homicides, using media reports, state crime statistics, medical-examiner records and court records, shows that use of force by police is the second-most common circumstance under which Utahns kill each other, surpassed only by intimate partner violence.
These astonishing statistics were followed by the least surprising statistic of them all.
Nearly all of the fatal shootings by police have been deemed by county prosecutors to be justified. Only one - the 2012 shooting of Danielle Willard by West Valley City police - was deemed unjustified, and the subsequent criminal charge was thrown out last month by a judge.
No kidding. And this on the heels of an incident in Cleveland in which a 12-year-old waving a toy gun was shot and killed by a rookie officer.
Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said the officer, one of two who responded to a dispatcher's call, was less than 10 feet from Tamir under a gazebo when the confrontation took place He declined to say if the video matches the officer's description of events, saying a full interview of the officer has not been conducted.
There is something gone badly wrong in the way police are taught to look at civilians these days. This is the logic of an occupying power being employed on American citizens. Ever since 9/11, when we all began to be told that we were going to have to bend a little bit, and then a little bit more, to authority or else we'd all die, the police in this country have been militarized in their tactics and in their equipment, which is bad enough, but in their attitudes and their mentality, which is far, far worse. Suspicion has bled into weaponized paranoia, especially in the case of black and brown people, especially in the case of young men who are black or brown, but this is not About Race because nothing ever is About Race. Even the potential of a threat requires a deadly response, Dick Cheney's one-percent idea brought to American cities and towns until Salt Lake City, of all places, winds up with cops who are deadlier on the streets than drug dealers. This is how you wind up with Darren Wilson. This is how you wind up with Michael Brown, dead in the middle of the road. This is how Darren Wilson walks, tonight, for the killing of Michael Brown. This is how you end up with an American horror story.
Jesus Mary, this Bob McCulloch guy may be the single greasiest public servant I've ever encountered. I've never seen a DA who was so damned proud of himself for putting a grand jury on automatic pilot. (See, "Ham sandwich, indictment of.") And I've never seen such a perfect mixture of condescension and willful nonfeasance in my many years of watching how law enforcement in this country operates. This, after all, is a guy who once personally wrangled a grand jury to discover the identity of a whistleblower. This is a guy who once lied through his teeth about another police shooting, this one involving a car that allegedly "charged" a couple of officers, much as Michael Brown allegedly "charged" Darren Wilson. The kindest evaluation of McCulloch's record is that he is a very active prosecutor with a very clear sense of what he can make a grand jury do, if he chooses to do so, which he did not in this case, for reasons that are far from unclear. In the most high-profile case of his career, prosecutor Bob McCulloch insisted he was just a feather in the wind, just gathering evidence so the grand jury could make up its own mind, not directing it at all. And then, Monday night, he hummina-hummina'ed for seven full minutes before announcing the least shocking news of the day. Darren Wilson did not commit a crime by shooting Michael Brown dead in broad daylight in the middle of the street. But Bob McCulloch, public servant, knows what the real problem with this investigation was.
"The most significant challenge encountered in this investigation has been the 24-hour news cycle and its insatiable appetite for something, for anything to talk about, following closely behind with the non-stop rumors on social media."
Social media. He actually fking said that.
Nothing good will come of this. Nothing at all.
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BREAKING | Ferguson Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Police Officer Who Killed Michael Brown |
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Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=7118"><span class="small">Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News</span></a>
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Monday, 24 November 2014 18:45 |
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Gibson writes: "After months of deliberation and consistent protest from community members, a grand jury in Clayton, Missouri, has decided that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, will not stand trial for shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed."
(photo: ABC News)
Ferguson Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Police Officer Who Killed Michael Brown
By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News
24 November 14
 fter months of deliberation and consistent protest from community members, a grand jury in Clayton, Missouri, has decided that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, will not stand trial for shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed.
On the day of the incident, Wilson stopped Brown for jaywalking, unaware that Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson were alleged suspects for petty theft at a nearby convenience store. Wilson claims he and Brown struggled momentarily before he pulled the trigger. Brown was shot multiple times in the head, and multiple witnesses say Brown was on his knees with his hands in the air, telling Wilson not to shoot before he was killed. Brown’s body lay in the street on Canfield Drive, over 100 feet away from Wilson’s car, and remained there for 4.5 hours before Brown’s body was removed by a police SUV.
Last week, Missouri governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency for the St. Louis area, deploying the Missouri National Guard and authorizing the Missouri Highway Patrol, the St. Louis County Police Department, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police to act as a “unified command” to respond to protests. At a press conference on November 24, St. Louis mayor Francis G. Slay said the safety of those who disagreed with Ferguson protesters was a “paramount” concern.
Michael Brown’s parents, Leslie McSpadden and Michael Brown, Sr., urged protesters nationwide to participate in a moment of silence for Brown for 4 minutes and thirty seconds, to symbolize the 4 hours and thirty minutes Brown’s body was left in the street after he was shot to death on August 9th. Hundreds of protesters are have surrounded the Ferguson Police Department, and solidarity protests are underway in Columbia, Missouri; New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Oakland, Chicago, Albuqerque, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Austin, Texas; and Sanford, Florida, where Trayvon Martin was killed. Dozens more cities have pledged to hold protests in the days following the announcement. For a full list of protest locations, visit fergusonresponse.tumblr.com.
Carl Gibson, 26, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, and follow him on twitter at @uncutCG.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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n Ferguson, a wound bleeds.
