#SWAT Team watches with scopes in #Ferguson while demonstrators raise their hands for #MikeBrown Justice pic.twitter.com/jSy0GZOuu8
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 13, 2014
I’m starting to think St. Louis is a third world nation.
And this wasn’t a police shooting. It was a police execution:
Tiffany Mitchell, 27, said she did not see what led up to the shooting, but said she arrived right before the fatal shots were fired.
“As I was coming around, I heard the tires squeaking on the truck, and as I get closer, I see them tussling through the window. The kid was pulling off and the cop was pulling in,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell told News 4 she saw a door close on a police car. An officer was inside and Brown, Jr. was on the outside. She said the two were arm wrestling through the car window. Mitchell said she then tried to pull out her phone to record. Shots then rang out.
“It just didn’t look right for them to be arm wrestling,” Mitchell said. “The first gun shot came from the window, so I just started getting out of the way.”
According to Mitchell, Brown, Jr, began to run away after the first shot was fired.
“After the shot, the kid just breaks away. The cop follows him, kept shooting, the kid’s body jerked as if he was hit. After his body jerked he turns around, puts his hands up, and the cop continues to walk up on him and continues to shoot until he goes all the way down,” Mitchell said.
From the two witnesses, the story is becoming clear. The cop pulled up, told them to get the fuck on the sidewalk, they said something to the effect of they were almost to their destination, cop backed the truck up, asked “what did you say?” and reached through the driver side window and pulled Brown in, Brown tried to get away, cop pulled his gun and shot once from the car, then hunted down and executed him. And I bet the forensics will demonstrate the distances from which Brown was shot, which is why they have not released the autopsy report.
That’s what I think happened.
ranchandsyrup
OT and excuse the whoring, but here are some thoughts on politicizing/getting validation from the Robin Williams tragedy.
jimmiraybob
I am happy to report that patriot citizen militias from around the nation have rallied in Ferguson, MO, as they did the Bundy Ranch, to seek relief for our fellow citizens from an out of control dictatorial gov….er…never mind, this didn’t happen. I guess they’re busy.
aangus
Yup, they seem to think they’re in downtown Baghdad.
Francis
As I know virtually nothing about weaponry, would someone please explain what I’m seeing on top of the van. Am I really seeing a police officer aiming a machine gun at protestors?
Violet
These pictures are shocking. I hope they’re getting some airplay. In my neck of the woods they’re starting to break through on the local news.
KG
meanwhile, in the City of Angels, a 24 year old “mentally challenged” (words of his family) man was shot and killed by police. Apparently there was a struggle but details are sketchy at this point. There’s supposed to be a rally at LAPD headquarters this weekend, let’s see if SWAT shows up or not.
Cacti
As I mentioned near the end of the previous thread.
The St. Louis County prosecutor announced that Michael Brown had no criminal history with his office.
So when do we get to find out about the Wyatt Earp of the Ferguson PD, and his disciplinary history/citizen complaint history?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Francis:
Pretty much, yes.
Brian R.
What the fuck? Is the police department there actively trying to prompt a riot?
Fucking morons.
flapjack
“That’s what I think happened”
There you have it folks. If wr0ng way Cole thinks that’s what happened I am 100% sure that’s NOT what happened!
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@flapjack: Hi, derf.
tulip
https://twitter.com/PDPJ/status/499394946416529409/photo/1
Another picture. Just as chilling. Excellent way to deescalate the situation.
Cacti
At a minimum, it will show the entry and/or exit points of the bullets.
If he was shot from behind, it was no self-defense. Although, I wouldn’t put past the PD to say that Brown was charging backwards at the officer.
Violet
What do these cops think they’re doing by standing on top of an armored vehicle pointing guns at protestors? How is that helping anything? Is it helping the community? The family of the slain boy? Themselves? I can’t see how it’s good.
BGinCHI
If the kid was white would the NRA issue a press release to the effect of, “If Michael Brown had only been armed….”
I bet the Fonzie of freedom thinks that.
Of course if Michael Brown had been armed he would have been shot 80 times by 8 cops.
Violet
Whaddya think would happen if these protestors exercised their second amendment rights and came out open carrying?
Mike in NC
Unarmed teen shot 8 times by cop(s). There ought to be freaking riots across the country.
So how is FOX News pitching this, as the “War on White People”?
LAC
@flapjack: Jesus … Can we get a more evolved view. Maybe your sister pancake would like to weigh in? Cousin waffle got an opinion? Your brother crepe got something to say?
St. Louis has always had a fucked up racial dynamic. My 90 year old world war two vet dad grew up there. Came home in uniform and after what he endured, left for New York City. Glad we got him out of there.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Cacti:
Constable [….] I clearly saw the defendant … doing whatever he’s accused of…Red-handed. When kicked… he said: ‘It’s a fair … cop, I done it all … Right… no doubt about… that’. Then, bound as he was to the chair, he assaulted myself and three other constables while bouncing around the cell. The end.
Link.
Cacti
@jimmiraybob:
And where are the apostles of liberty from First Look Media with their guerrilla journalism?
You would think that champions of the first amendment might have something to say about protesters getting gassed and having guns trained on them. Maybe they just haven’t heard about it yet.
Betty Cracker
The police chief is now saying the cop and kid scuffled before the first shot, and the kid punched the cop in the face. “The side of his face is swollen,” according to the chief. I don’t know what happened, but there are at least two credible witnesses I’ve seen who say the unarmed kid had his hands up when he was fatally shot. As for armored personnel carriers rolling through American cities with Rambo’d-out cops pointing guns at Americans…sickening. Just sickening and horrible.
NCSteve
@Francis: Picture is blurry, but it looks to be a large calibre scope mounted sniper rifle.
Scott Peterson
Where the hell is the Missouri governor in all this?
J.D. Rhoades
@Brian R.:
These fuckers aren’t careful, they’re going to end up with an Amritsar massacre on their hands.
(Got accused of ‘hyperbole” for posting that on LGF, but I stand by it.)
Here’s a scary fact: the so-called SWAT teams for a lot of towns aren’t the highly trained specialists of TV and movies. They’re beat cops who volunteer to do a couple extra days of training a month for a few extra bucks and the chance to play with bigger guns than usual. One of these guys gets trigger happy, you’re going to have a lot of dead black people on the news, and then the shit is gonna get real.
Citizen_X
After the last few years, I’m starting to think the answer is “Nothing. Except for racism–the foundation of EVERYTHING fucked up about this country.”
Cacti
@LAC:
Yup.
The Lou is a poster city for the white flight phenomenon. Ferguson used to be a white flight enclave. Now they’re moving further out to exurbs to like St. Charles.
Betty Cracker
@LAC: Okay, that made me laugh. (ETA: The 1st paragraph, I mean.)
Kropadope
@Cacti:
May we join you, officer?
Cacti
@Betty Cracker:
I wouldn’t be surprised if the shooter had one of his buddies on the force pop him in the face a couple times to help with his story.
SatanicPanic
@Betty Cracker: It’s not a capital crime to punch someone in the face if they don’t die! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
J.D. Rhoades
@Betty Cracker:
So he totally deserved to die, is that what you’re saying, chief? Now we know why black people don’t open carry.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Betty Cracker: It doesn’t matter if the kid and the cop scuffled. If the kid’s hands were up, there was no reason to shoot him – no matter what had occurred previously.
metricpenny
@Citizen_X:
I second that.
Baud
@Cacti:
If the kid punched the cop, the kid’s hand should be bruised. That would show up in the autopsy. (And I understand the family is going to have their own autopsy performed).
different-church-lady
@Betty Cracker:
Even if true, still not an excuse for deadly force after a suspect surrenders.
chopper
@Betty Cracker:
Who else saw this statement coming?
Cacti
@Baud:
I think I read that the body was released to his family today.
Cacti
@Scott Peterson:
The Governor was the one who requested the DOJ investigation.
Violet
From the Twitter feed in Cole’s post:
Link.
And more recently:
Link
They can’t even keep their stories straight..
Baud
@Cacti:
And I agree with everyone else that, even if the autopsy shows that there was a punch, that doesn’t excuse the shooting well after the fact.
mai naem mobile
I’m not saying that cops should be unarmed but do people just shoot at cops? It seems like its once in a great while when they get shot at. Why do they need to be so heavily armed?
Villago Delenda Est
@Brian R.: This question was asked by our esteemed bloghost yesterday.
I believe the answer is “fuck yeah.”
Baud
@Violet:
The first tweet says no action will be taken. The second tweet is a request. I don’t see them as inconsistent.
SatanicPanic
@chopper: Seriously, it’s that or “just sprinkle some crack on him”
Villago Delenda Est
I think it’s fairly safe to say that the Police Chief is, um, well, making all this up.
There. I said it.
NCSteve
@Betty Cracker: Well that’s the thing, isn’t? In Wayne LaPierre’s America, they aren’t really Americans. All of their expectations and assumptions tell them that the people who constitute 2/3 of their town’s population are sub-human aliens who will turn to violence in a heartbeat if not kept firmly under the heel of the Real Americans who constitute The Thin Blue (or, you know, Beige, whatever) Line.
That’s why they have people on top of trucks with sniper rifles in the middle of the crowd. Because in their minds, it’s inevitable that sooner or later, someone’s going to pull out a gun and start shooting. And when that happens, *BLAM* the Good Guy with a gun will take down the Bad Guy with a single perfectly aimed shot.
And then, of course, the whole thing descends into Amritsar, but the long laid Bush era Homeland Security pork Emergency Response Plan they’re working to doesn’t really discuss that part.
NCSteve
@Betty Cracker: Well that’s the thing, isn’t? In Wayne LaPierre’s America, they aren’t really Americans. All of their expectations and assumptions tell them that the people who constitute 2/3 of their town’s population are sub-human aliens who will turn to violence in a heartbeat if not kept firmly under the heel of the Real Americans who constitute The Thin Blue (or, you know, Beige, whatever) Line.
That’s why they have people on top of trucks with sniper rifles in the middle of the crowd. Because in their minds, it’s inevitable that sooner or later, someone’s going to pull out a gun and start shooting. And when that happens, *BLAM* the Good Guy with a gun will take down the Bad Guy with a single perfectly aimed shot.
And then, of course, the whole thing descends into Amritsar, but the long laid Bush era Homeland Security pork Emergency Response Plan they’re working to doesn’t really discuss that part.
Violet
Somewhat related:
Houston African-American community activists aren’t very happy about the proposed march and suggests they stay home. The response:
Yes, I can’t see where anything could go wrong.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: I thought there was a picture posted of the officer standing over Brown. I found this one on the web but I had seen a clearer picture. link
Duke of Clay
I see these pictures and I have to think the police have completely lost the thread.
Violet
@Baud: I think when the people “requesting” are armed to the teeth it undermines the sense of “request”. So if “nothing will be done” why have the SWAT teams and other militarized police forces out there? Oh, and this might be relevant:
Yep. Nothing will happen to them.
JPL
Anonymous hacked into the police department and according to Gawker, discovered this AUDIO TAPES: Officer calls in assistance for crowd control before mentioning a shooting. No EMS called in.
Patricia Kayden
@Villago Delenda Est: And I think the lying is going to get more intense. I just don’t see how this is a justifiable shooting and my heart breaks for Mr. Brown’s family and friends. I cannot imagine just walking along, minding my own business and then being cursed at and then shot down like an animal. And then left to rot in the streets for 4 hours.
Why wasn’t an ambulance called to take him to the hospital right after the shooting?
Liquid
If I were a klanner I’d be pissed that I’m missing out on all this free murder. Who needs a length of rope when you can just become a cop?
Patricia Kayden
@Violet: Why doesn’t Amad and his gun-toting fanatics go to Ferguson, MO then, if he’s so worried about Blacks getting their butts kicked and racism? Please.
JPL
So the officer calls in for crowd control and doesn’t mention that he shot someone. In fact, he doesn’t mention that the victim attacked him.
yhwhx
It makes me feel kind of dirty to pass on an Alex Jones link, but they are streaming live from Ferguson: http://www.ustream.tv/RealAlexJones
If anyone is aware of one, I’d really like a link to any other live steam.
different-church-lady
Maybe this is just me, but I’d be a little wary of drawing conclusions based on what someone on the internet said Anonymous discovered.
Baud
@Violet:
I didn’t say they weren’t lying, just that those two tweets weren’t inconsistent.
Violet
@Patricia Kayden: It is to wonder, isn’t it. One also wonders where all those armed militia members are who showed up at the Bundy ranch. Too busy, I guess.
Hal
So what are these SWAT team members going to do? Open fire and gun down dozens of people? The police chiefs handling of this incident has been terrible.
Kay (not the front-pager)
Look at that picture and keep in mind that the Ferguson Chief of Police says, “Race relations is a top priority right now,” Jackson said at a Wednesday press conference. “I’m working with the Justice Department to address that.”
Watching the hideous right-wing reaction to child refugees at the border, the Jim Crow-like response of police to African Americans, particularly AA young men, all I can think of if a song from my Sunday School days: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
MikeBoyScout
‘the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances’ clearly is N/A here. Wonder why anyone accepts this.
What is the difference between these people and others? What, oh what could it be?
JPL
@different-church-lady: They released the audio dispatch tapes. Gawker has the two hours of tapes. Since I didn’t listen to the tape, I just copied and pasted a few of the dispatches.
Supposedly the Anonymous group is going to release the name of the officer this weekend. I don’t agree with that.
If the news media is not going to do their job, then I have no problem when information is released another way.
the Conster
@Violet:
Not that it matters, but I’m of two minds about this. The second blacks start open carrying, the second amendment will become all about regulated militias.
J.D. Rhoades
@the Conster:
The second blacks start open carrying, their outright extermination will begin.
Patrick
@Betty Cracker:
So why in the world wouldn’t they release the results of autopsy yesterday? Why didn’t they interview the witness right away? Hell, it seems that they immediately automatically decided to believe their own cop and totally dismissed the black witness.
dp
Unreal, but all too believable.
OzarkHillbilly
You know what I think happened? I think I wasn’t there and neither were any of the rest of us, so none of us knows. I know what I fear, I know what I suspect, and I know that place, I have stood on that street corner, I know the people who live there, and I am tired and I want everyone to take a deep breath and….
And none of what I think or feel makes one damn bit of difference.
Violet
Decided to check out the NBC Nightly News to see what the MSM take is on the story. It’s third or fourth down the list of stories. They sent a black guy to cover it (Ron Allen), and they showed footage of white men buying guns in a gun shop owned by a white man. Sales are apparently up 50% and the owner says, “People are taking personal responsibility for the situation.” They also interviewed a black family where the mom said she was ready to take her kids and go. “It’s scary,” she says. I bet it is.
J.D. Rhoades
@Betty Cracker:
“Mr. Fergeson, you are accused of first degree murder in that you shot your neighbor from inside your car, got out, then followed him as he ran away while you continued shooting. How do you plead?”
“Well, Your Honor, he hit me in the face. I had swelling and everything.”
“Case dismissed!”
lamh36
Sad that it even matter, but you know RWNJ want to use the young man’s record as reason to devalue his MURDER!
J.D. Rhoades
@Violet:
See my comment @68.
aimai
@Patrick: You can’t assume they believe “their own cop”–they are choosing not to find out that he was, of course, lying to them and murdered the kid in cold blood. But they have to know that he did. Refusing to interview the witnesses is proof that they simply prefer to remain in ignorance in order to better push the cops story.
OzarkHillbilly
Oh, and John? St Louis is not a 3rd world country, it is just the most racist northern city in the country. Seriously. I just once thought Ferguson had gotten beyond that.
Gravenstone
@flapjack: I do appreciate when derfs make themselves so obvious and immediately pieable. Poor little cretin can’t step away from his tired schtick.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@OzarkHillbilly: FWIW I have never seen St. Louis as a northern city.
lamh36
testing….
ETA: Hmmm, tried to add a link to an article but seems WP won’t let me..
lamh36
Here’s Booman quoting from the article I wanted to link to.
He Didn’t Deserve to Die Like a Dog in the Street
by BooMan
gbear
@JPL: NPR interviewed the one black councilperson in Ferguson today. It was a pretty good interview. The last question they asked her was how, in a town of 20,000 people, no one would know the name of the cop. Her reply was that basically ‘Oh, everybody knows the name of the cop who did it….everybody knows his name.’ Is was kind of a chilling way to end the interview. I’m glad that NPR is starting to always refer to Brown as an unarmed man who was gunned down by the police.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@lamh36:
QFT. Unless someone is a direct threat to someone else, deadly force is not justified.
lol chikinburd
@OzarkHillbilly: Division-rival Milwaukee is jealous again.
shelley
So trying to enact a curfew without officially enacting a curfew cause that might look…….bad?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@lol chikinburd: Chicago and Boston have had their moments as well.
Mandalay
@Betty Cracker: From your link:
Given the circumstances, that seems like a very good idea. I dread to think how much a private autopsy will cost.
Mandalay
@Betty Cracker:
He’s alleging this four days later? Makes no sense. If that had really occurred he would have been saying that on Sunday morning.
gbear
@Mandalay: Wasn’t Al Sharpton stepping in to cover some of the costs? I’d heard he was paying the funeral expenses. I wouldn’t doubt that the family will get help in paying for the autopsy.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mandalay: The law firm will cover it. They will either get the money back in the sure-to-come civil suit or write it off as a pro bono expense.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mandalay:
That could get crowdfunded in a heartbeat. Or maybe Rev. Al is planning to pick up those costs in addition to the funeral expenses.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: Agreed. But how many single photographs have had a book written about them?
tbone
Forget where I saw it, maybe raw story, but supposedly the police chief has a freaking confederate flag hanging up in his house.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: I was living in Cambridge then. Friend of mine saved a Globe photo of himself at the wrong end of a police dog during a protest march. Fun times in the Hub in those years.
Bill Arnold
@Francis:
From that image, it’s hard to to be sure, even embiggened and blown up in up in an image editor. But if you root around in e.g. google images (show past 24 hours) you’ll find a few of that truck (or one like it) with guys with guns on top. (one linked by tulip at comment 12)
the Conster
@efgoldman:
You are so right about how Boston has changed. I commute every day on the train, and the diversity is really fucking amazing. Boston has become a magnet and a beacon for smart tolerant educated people from around the world, and the city looks really beautiful now with the Rose Kennedy Greenway all done. That Greenway has been full every day this summer with happy tourist families of every nationality, and it hasn’t hurt that the weather has been great.
LAC
@efgoldman: no. Dad served in World War Two and is black. So……
TerryC
@Cacti: “So when do we get to find out about the Wyatt Earp of the Ferguson PD, and his disciplinary history/citizen complaint history?” Please, unless IIRIC, Earp took guns away.
TerryC
@Cacti: “So when do we get to find out about the Wyatt Earp of the Ferguson PD, and his disciplinary history/citizen complaint history?” Please, unless IIRIC, Earp took guns away.
shortstop
@efgoldman: @the Conster: But riding the T — or Chicago’s El — as a visitor or a suburban commuter is not the same as living in those cities. I’m glad you guys are saying Boston’s changed, but I’d be curious to hear from some Bostonians of color on that. Plenty of white people visiting (and living in) my own city of Chicago think we’re all super-liberal and post-racism, but the everyday reality is different for black and Latino families trying to stay safe, get their kids educated, buy houses (yes, steering still goes on), get their garbage picked up, shop for food and otherwise live their lives.
g
@mai naem mobile:
Well, white supremacists do.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@shortstop: I know that, even as a frequent visitor to your city, I seldom get too far south of the Museum of Science and Industry. To be realistic, it’s in the Loop up through Lincoln Park and places like Wrigleyville that most white liberal types spend their time. Maybe a foray elsewhere for a cool club if they want to feel brave.
JoyfulA
@tbone: It was the police chief’s son, with a confederate flag on the wall. Of course, I don’t know whether that was the police chief’s son or some other random white twenty-something.
I also read that the police chief’s wife had posted crappy racist stuff on Facebook, but I’m not on FaceBook and just have some unknown person’s word to go by. And Anonymous is supposed to announce salacious gossip about the police chief’s daughter, if the murdering cop’s name isn’t announced today or tomorrow or yesterday.
gian
@JPL:
Read the mother Jones version of that
Not clear it’s at all hacked but from a subscription service
James E. Powell
The kid apparently committed the crime “contempt of cop” and for that he was killed.
Mike in NC
@efgoldman: My brother and family live in nearby Braintree. We were visiting last year and I recognized almost nothing of central Quincy, where I spent a lot of time in the 70s and 80s.
Bill Arnold
LOL RT has a nice collection of images
Title : “‘Your right to assembly is not being denied’: Ferguson protesters at SWAT gunpoint”
namekarB
I’m reserving judgment until Sarah of the North Woods and the NRA issue an opinion
Villago Delenda Est
@James E. Powell: Well, he was also committing the related crime of walking while black, so there’s that.
Seanly
This better not be another white-washed crime. That bastard of a police officer murdered that young man.
It sickens me to see how the police department has responded.
Xenos
The use of snipers remind me of the Sûreté du Quebec sending a sniper up a tree during the confrontation with the Mohawk back in the early 90s. That de-escalated the conflict right fucking quick.
Xenos
Looking at these pictures from the point of view of someone who has been living outside of the US for a few years, and is no longer used to seeing such body-building culture, the pumped up arms on the cops are pretty astonishing. Even at rest the muscles on the forearms are rippling.
Are all these guys juiced? That might explain some of the unstable personalities on display.
WaynersT
All police should be required to wear cameras. This shit has been out of control for way too fucking long.
NorthLeft12
@Xenos: I see the same thing up here in Canada. Most of the local OPP officers that I have seen look like they are working out in the weight room when they are not on duty. Perhaps that is from constantly wearing body armour and hoisting heavy artillery?
The female officers are the only ones who look normal [ie. not pumped].
And by the way, despite a few highly publicized and horrifying incidents where cops have been shot by certified [right wing] nut jobs, there is very little reason for our local OPP to wear body armour when on duty IMO.
usurykills
@jimmiraybob:
Actually, the militia was already there when you made your comment.
http://beforeitsnews.com/u-s-politics/2014/08/militia-in-missouri-to-protect-americans-from-tyrannical-police-state-as-martial-law-draws-near-2473302.html
The US is now a Police State (Ferguson only the latest proof). I am leaving as soon as I can arrange it. It is hopeless here.