Mudflats Reports From Ferguson
After the announcement Monday that no charges were going to be brought against Officer Darren Wilson, we saw fires across Ferguson with many buildings burned to the ground, and stores looted. Tuesday, with some of the initial anger released and an increased police and National Guard presence, the city was quieter, but there were still arrests and tear gas.
The protests are centered at the Ferguson Police Department on S. Florissant Road in Ferguson Missouri – from there groups of people split off and take the police and sometimes even the National Guard for a run around the area.
After marchers that went by City Hall noticed an abandoned Ferguson police car, the more violent members of the crowd took to destroying it. They threw cinderblocks, molotov cocktails, and hit windows with whatever they had with them. After the police let loose tear gas the crowd dispersed and most went back to the Ferguson Police Station.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/26/3597322/justice-scalia-explains-what-was-wrong-with-the-ferguson-grand-jury/
Scalia thinks Ferguson grand jury was wrong.
Brown used his size to intimidate a storekeeper and may well have used his size and strength in an attempt to intimidate or even wrestle a gun away from Wilson. What is not clear is how an armed Wilson felt to so intimidated, so threatened, so fearful for his life once he got out of the car and confronted an unarmed Brown again. Maybe Brown was enraged and charged Wilson, but twelve shots? Wilson’s excessive response is why so many have trouble with this case. A critique of Wilson’s actions is not a defense of Brown’s actions.
They are protesting the wrong killing of a young black male in Ferguson. This happened a few days after the one getting all the wrong attention. This murder is when the police shot him to death, turned him over, handcuffed his dead hands behind him, then flipped his dead body back over. Murder? Tampering with evidence? Changing the scene of a death/crime? His name was Kajieme Powell. The longer versions of the citizen’s cell phone video are also on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEuZiTcbGCg&feature=youtu.be
Near as I can tell he was hosed down for approaching two armed,white cops while walking on grass and being Black. Compounded felonies in any KKK textbook. Lordy,are we going back to the 60s all over?
I was watching a live stream when the crowd came upon that police car. You could hear a woman’s voice clearly imply that the police had left the car there on purpose, alone on the street in the middle of the protest zone, with the expectation that it was going to be ruined. A few in the crowd tried to keep people from actually embracing that idea and the car was safe for a few minutes. Then all it took was one guy to smash a window. Then they were going to flip it. Again, reasonable people tried to stop them. It didn’t work. It appears that certain people just HAD to take the bait. Or, if you’re of a mind that there are “plants” in the crowds, that a certain few people were given the “go” to get the party started, as it were. And it was all caught on film.
Stay safe, Zach. Glad you’re there.
Edit- I mean the very first police car, just after the “announcement”, made specifically at a time where the most people would be not only on the streets, but watching from home. I heard someone also point out, on twitter, that the first person to approach that car was a white guy. Not that it makes a difference, but I suspect that man doesn’t live in Ferguson. I’m sure it’s possible that he’s just as infuriated as the local folks, but I simply feel suspicious if that’s a fact.
Rermember this-I do.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/08/1024352/-Conservative-Magazine-Brags-of-its-Agent-Provocateur-s-Role-in-Provoking-Police-Action-in-D-C-NEW#
99.99% of the time a grand jury returns an indictment. What was different this time?
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ferguson-michael-brown-indictment-darren-wilson/
0.938203703% indictments are not returned.
Stay safe, Zach.