Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Missouri Police Union Announced “Darren Wilson Day” on Anniversary of Mike Brown Shooting

One year later, as unrest and protest returned to Ferguson Missouri marking the first year anniversary of the shooting of Mike Brown, the police union in Missouri is apparently having its own celebration. The union has taken to Facebook and proclaimed Brown’s death as Darren Wilson Day. You remember Darren Wilson right? He is the police officer who served and protected Mike Brown by pumping multiple bullets into Brown’s body as Brown ran away.

The post on the page of the Columbia Police Officers’ Association incited outrage in the college town, including among city officials. Protestors gathered Monday outside the police department, according to the newspaper.

The post said the shooting had nothing to do with race and referred to Wilson, who was a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, as an “innocent, but persecuted, officer,” according to the Post-Dispatch. It also said Wilson was innocent because of “the fact that he was thoroughly investigated… and found he did NOTHING wrong,” according to the report.

The post was shared almost 60 times, according to an ABC affiliate.

Categories
Domestic Policies Express Yourself Mike Brown Shooting News Politics Racial profiling Racism

Acting Stupidly Would be an Improvement

Remember the halcyon days of 2009, when the country was embroiled in the first racial controversy of the brand new Obama presidency? You know, when the Cambridge, Massachusetts police thought that the world-renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested for essentially breaking into his own house because the front door was stuck? 

Those were the good old days when it was possible to accuse the president of playing the race card (as if racism was ever a gentlemanly card game), when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 still had some teeth, and when accusing the policeman of “acting stupidly” made Obama the butt of jokes and the target of righteous anger because he didn’t support law enforcement. The best thing we can say about that epsiode?

At least nobody was shot dead.

Little did the country know that the innocuous “Beer Summit” would be the last time that civility entered the conversation. Conservatives, and even a few liberals, thought that Obama had breached the wall of silence too quickly in his term. That he had to tread lightly and be careful because as the nation’s first African-American president, he had to stay above the fray and not remind polite society that we have a bit of a complicated history when it comes to race. And guns. And law enforcement behavior. Seems quaint, yes?

I believe that police officers, perhaps more than any other public service job, have the most difficult environment in which to work. The police have to be correct almost 100% of the time. I support effective, proactive, respectful, sometimes forceful police work. Recent events have shown, however, that many police officers, and the criminal justice systems in towns and cities across this country, have not been held accountable for their actions or have lied about what’s actually happened at traffic stops and crime scenes. This must stop.

I’m hoping that the Republican candidates in this week’s debates will address the issue and that we’ll hear more from the Democrats as well. But this needs to be done rather quickly because the real issue is trust. Right now, that level is dangerously low.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Michael Brown’s Family Files Lawsuit Against The City of Ferguson

The civil lawsuit filed in St. Louis County, Missouri, names the city of Ferguson, former Police Chief Thomas Jackson and former police officer Darren Wilson as defendants, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit seeks $75,000 in compensation, as well as unspecified punitive damages, and calls for a court order prohibiting the use of police techniques “that demean, disregard, or underserve its African-American population”.

The shooting last August sparked protests and a national movement questioning police use of deadly force, especially against minorities in cities around the country.

The lawsuit alleges that Wilson destroyed evidence after he shot Brown on the street of the St. Louis suburb last August, saying he washed blood off his hands and cleared and bagged the gun used in the shooting.

“We expect to put on evidence that you never heard about before, that you have never seen,” Anthony Gray, one of the lawyers for Brown’s family, said at a news conference on Thursday to discuss the lawsuit.

Gray said evidence had not been presented properly in the previous investigations.

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting Racism

Giuliani – Darren Wilson “Should Be Commended” For Killing Mike Brown – Video

You just can’t keep this racist out of the lime-light. Just days after attacking President Obama for “not loving America,” the former mayor of New York went home to Fox News and this time, attacked a 17-year-old dead black teenager named, Mike Brown.

Of course Mike is not around to defend himself and we will never get his side of the story, but that is not necessary for the likes of Rudy Giuliani who repeated the talking points of Officer Darren Wilson, the man who killed Mike Brown. And although it is a known fact that Darren Wilson did not have any information about Brown robbing a convenience store, Giuliani used this insignificant detail to justify killing the teenager.

“A man committed a robbery, attempted to assault a police officer, and the police officer, to save his life, shot him,” Giuliani told Fox News on Thursday. “The police officer did his duty. The police officer should be commended for what he did. He did exactly what you should do.”

Video

Categories
Mike Brown Shooting

Two Police Officers Shot in Ferguson Protests

The St. Louis County Police Department confirmed that one of its officers, as well as an officer from Webster Groves, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries in the shooting. The shooting occurred just after midnight.

The St. Louis County officer, 41, was shot in the shoulder, police said. The Webster Groves officer, 32, was shot in the face.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the officers were hit by gunfire outside the Ferguson Police Department, where they were confronting protesters who were blocking roads and sidewalks.

Categories
Featured Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Darren Wilson Supporter – “Sharpton ought to go back into the gutter”

Since it was revealed that the Justice Department will not to bring any civil rights violation charge against Darren Wilson in the killing of Mike Brown, Wilson’s supporters are tripping over themselves trying to get in front of the cameras to sing his praises.

One of these people is Milwaukee County Sheriff and conservative commentator David Clarke. In Thursday’s episode of Fox & Friends, Clarke enthusiastically defended Wilson’s innocence while calling Eric Holder and Al Sharpton “race hustlers.”

“The grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri got it right,” Clarke concluded. “Officer Wilson has been exonerated. The thing I want to know is how does he get his reputation back?”

Clarke reserved much of his ire for Sharpton.

“I don’t expect anything intelligent to come out of the mouth of Al Sharpton,” Clarke said. “We know he is a charlatan. Al Sharpton ought to go back into the gutter he came from. The police officer is owed a lot from him, Eric Holder and the President of the United States.”

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Ferguson Grand Juror Sues Ferguson Prosecutor Over Mike Brown Case

“In [the grand juror]’s view, the current information available about the grand jurors’ views is not entirely accurate — especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges,” the lawsuit says, per the news outlet. “Moreover, the public characterization of the grand jurors’ view of witnesses and evidence does not accord with [Doe]’s own.”

The lawsuit asks for an injunction that would allow the juror to speak publicly about the Brown case. The juror is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri.

The legal standards in the investigation of Officer Darren Wilson’s August shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown were also “muddled” and presented in an “untimely” manner, according to the lawsuit.

“From [the grand juror]’s perspective, the investigation of Wilson had a stronger focus on the victim than in other cases presented to the grand jury,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit argues that First Amendment rights outweigh the typical rules of secrecy that regulate grand juries. The plaintiff also takes a shot at McCulloch’s vow for transparency and his releasing huge amounts of grand jury documents.

“From [Doe]’s perspective, although the release of a large number of records provides an appearance of transparency, with heavy redactions and the absence of context, those records do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury,” the lawsuit reads.

McCulloch’s office did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment.

Categories
Featured Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting shooting

They Made a Song Celebrating Mike Brown’s Murder – Video

TMZ got a hold of this video. It shows a performer singing a brand spanking new song celebrating the murder of Ferguson’s Mike Brown by the hands of a former police officer, Darren Wilson. The celebratory song was performed at The Glendale, CA Elks Lodge. The lodge is investigating…

The song was a parody of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” Gary Fishell, the performer and a member of the Lodge, changed the lyrics, which include:

Michael Brown learned a lesson about a messin’
With a badass policeman

And he’s bad, bad Michael Brown
Baddest thug in the whole damn town
Badder than old King Kong
Meaner than a junkyard dog

Two men took to fightin’
And Michael punched in through the door
And Michael looked like some old Swiss cheese
His brain was splattered on the floor

And he’s dead, dead Michael Brown
Deadest man in the whole damn town
His whole life’s long gone
Deader than a roadkill dog

Video

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting Politics

Prosecutor Bob McCulloch Knowingly Misled Ferguson Grand Jury with False Witnesses

In a shocking turn of events – well not really shocking, we all had a hunch what was going to happen in Ferguson – Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecutor who “investigated” the murder of Ferguson resident Mike Brown, is now admitting that he knowingly allowed false witnesses to testify before the grand jury. You will remember that the grand jury decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson after he pumped 6 bullets into a fleeing Mike Brown.

Bob McCulloch’s interview came on Friday after a much publicized story that revealed a grand jury witness – known as ‘Witness 40′ – was not even in Ferguson when Mike Brown was killed, but she was allowed by McCulloch to testify about events she never witnessed.

Asked in the interview about witness 40, Bob McCulloch answered that he knew the witness was lying, but allowed her to mislead the grand jury because he promised to bring anyone who claimed they saw the shooting before the grand jury.

“Early on I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything would be presented to the grand jury,” said McCulloch. “Clearly some were not telling the truth.”

McConnell said that he knew the woman wasn’t telling the truth because she “clearly wasn’t present. She recounted a story right out of the newspaper” that backed up Wilson’s version of events, he said.

But did McConnell relay this very important piece of information to the members if the Grand Jury? No, he didn’t. The grand jury deliberated, using Witness 40’s testimony as “evidence” and came to the decision that Officer Wilson did nothing wrong.

McCulloch also said he had no regrets.

Bob McCulloch is the head law enforcer in St. Louis’ County in Missouri. He is responsible for… law enforcement. Why would he choose not to enforce the law? Why would he willfully allow false eye witnesses to lie under oath? Why would he willfully allow the legal process to be mocked? Because Bob McCulloch has an agenda, and that is to protect police officers of his state regardless of their crimes. These are the same officers he work with on a daily basis to bring cases against the people he serve. And his agenda is also to revenge the death of his father, who was also a police officer killed in the line of duty by a black man.

And for what it’s worth, Bob McCulloch also said that he would not be pressing charges against those who lied under oath and committed perjury. Perjury as you all know, is the criminal offense of making a false statement after being sworn to tell the truth in a legal setting. Those who committed this offense will not face any legal consequences, according to the top law enforcer in St. Louis County, Missouri!

Apparently, enforcing the law does not fit McCulloch’s agenda.

Video

Categories
homicide Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Justice Department Ruled Mike Brown’s Death a “Homicide”

Another step in trying to find some form of justice for Mike Brown came today in the release of an autopsy report conducted by the Justice Department, and the findings of a homicide in Brown’s killing.

A federal autopsy of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen whose fatal shooting by a white police officer set off nationwide protests, found he died from multiple gunshot wounds and described his death as a “homicide.”

The findings of the Justice Department post-mortem released on Monday echoed those of two previous autopsies carried out by St. Louis County’s medical examiner and a private examiner hired by the Brown family. It found that Brown — who was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9 — suffered “severe injuries of the skull, brain and right chest” and appeared to have been shot in the hand at close range. “The manner of death is homicide,” the Justice Department’s medical examiner ruled.

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting Politics Racism

Fox News Concludes – Minorities Should be Retrained on How to Deal With Police – Video

A classic case of the blame the victim mentality. We will be foolish to expect anything more from Fox News.

In light of all the protests going on these days with people speaking out against police brutality throughout this country, Fox has decided to take a different look at the reason minority communities are being victimized and murdered by some police officers and according to Fox host Jeanine Pirro, minorities are to blamed.

Reading a question from a poll conducted by Fox News to her viewers on her television program, Justice with Judge Jeanine, Pirro asked the question? “Do police need to be retrained on how to be sensitive to the minority community.” Pirro said the response from Fox viewers was “overwhelmingly in favor of law enforcement,” and she also read some of those results to her audience.

Pirro quoted Fox viewer ‘Jeff’ who wrote, “Why is it always necessary to tip toe around the minority community,” with ‘Larry’ writing, “No. Enough is enough. The general public needs to be more sensitive to the police and show them the respect they deserve.”

Pirro added, “I agree.”

Viewer ‘Jordan’ disagreed, saying.”Yes. Those cops were racially profiling,” setting off a condescending Pirro who said, “Hey Jordan, you don’t even know what racial profiling is.”

Categories
Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting Sports

What LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire and Sheldon Richardson Said About Police Violence

“It’s the same statement I made before,” James said after the Cavaliers finished shootaround Thursday before a 90-87 win over the New York Knicks. “It’s a sensitive subject right now. Violence is not the answer and retaliation isn’t the solution. As a society we just have to do better. I pray for the families of the lost ones.

“Obviously anytime you lose someone, it’s a downer for the whole family, and I’m not going to get too far involved in the logistics of the things because I’m not a part of it, but you pray for the families.”

Less than two weeks ago, James said the decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer responsible for the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, “hit home for me,” and he lamented the rioting, looting and overall violent reaction to the news.

Amar’e Stoudemire, speaking after the Knicks’ loss, said he was “pretty upset” that he wasn’t involved in any of the protests in New York.

“I think it’s something that’s, it’s very alarming in our country as far as that’s concerned,” Stoudemire said. “We have to be more conscientious of what the law enforcement’s job is, and that’s to protect and serve. Those two words are very strong when you think about that.

“Your first job is to protect, and your second job is to serve. Obviously it’s not happening that way. So we’ve got to figure out a way to create a better economic unity for all of the have-nots.”

New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson — a St. Louis native — reaffirmed his position, as well, while discussing the issue at the team’s facilities in Florham Park, N.J.

“Destroying Ferguson is not what I wanted to come from the verdict of the grand jury,” Richardson said. “I wanted my whole city to stay intact. I don’t think we’ll bounce back from that — the area of Ferguson, anyway. That’s just how I feel about it. I just want my hometown to stay as peaceful as possible, but I don’t blame them. I know where they’re coming from, but that’s not the solution.”

Exit mobile version