It’s a sentiment countless parents are struggling with these days… who will protect our children?
Tag: Ferguson
Republicans have looked for a narrative to defend the killing of Michael Brown since his lifeless body laid on a street in Ferguson, and now, with newly released information suggesting that Mike Brown had marijuana in his system, Republicans have found their talking-point.
Earlier today, I brought you a story of a rally that happened, not in Ferguson, but outside the area, where 125 people held a protest in support of the trigger happy police officer. Of the 125 people protesting, 124 of them were white. These people held their protest before the marijuana news broke, but now, Republicans like Rush Limbaugh and Bryan Fischer are ecstatic, hardly able to contain their enthusiasm in blaming Brown for his own death.
On his radio program today, Fischer happily proclaimed;
“We know now he did have marijuana in his system, and we’ve had stories, remember, we’ve had stories from Colorado, people going berserk on marijuana and killing people, hyped up on marijuana. So it’s more dangerous than people think”
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Ferguson police are still trying to suppress the protesters and their constitutionally protected rights, and they are also trying to suppress the information about those protests.
On Sunday night, hours before a curfew went into effect, Ferguson police used tear gas in trying to break up ongoing protests. Streaming the events live was Mustafa Hussein, a student who works at a local all-volunteer music station, Argus Radio. The station is using video equipment it purchased to live-stream concerts to broadcast the protests in Ferguson.
Tonight, as tens of thousands of people around the world watched, Hussein was threatened by an officer wielding a weapon. “Get the fuck out of here! You get that light off or you’re getting shot with this!,” the man shouts. That portion of the live-stream was uploaded to YouTube. Undeterred, Hussein continued broadcasting. Subsequently, he can be heard reporting the incident to a different officer and other reporters. He then called his dad to tell him he loved him.
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You just knew this was going to happen.
There is always a segment of society that willfully choose to stay on the wrong side of history. Most of the times, this segment is often called The Republican Party. Now we cannot be sure that these people are in fact Republicans, but if I had to bet, that is where I’ll put my money.
According to reports by The Guardian;
While the crowds protesting in Ferguson have been predominantly African American, all but one of the demonstrators showing their support for Wilson were white. A stack of dark blue t-shirts, onsale for $7 and bearing a police-style badge stating: “Officer Darren Wilson – I stand by you”, quickly sold out.
One was bought by Martin Baker, a consultant and former Republican congressional primary candidate and the only black member of the crowd. “People are too quick to play the race card,” said Baker, 44, on widespread claims by black residents Ferguson residents that they are subjected to institutional racism by the city’s almost unanimously white authorities. “Lawlessness knows no colour.”…
The demonstration grew out of a Facebook group dedicated to the support of Wilson, 28, who has been placed on paid leave and is in hiding for security. The group was created soon after his name was released to the public last Friday. By the time the demonstration began on Sunday, the group had attracted more than 12,500 “likes”.
“There is a great deal of support in the St Louis community, nationally, and internationally for officer Darren Wilson,” one of the organisers, who asked to be referred to as E M Baker, said in an email to the Guardian earlier on Sunday.
” We fully support officer Darren Wilson,” she said. “Our rally today is exclusively an opportunity for us to gather in ‘silence’ in a sea of blue to show officer Wilson, his family, the law enforcement community, and the world, that our support is strong and unwavering.”
Protest is outside headquarters NBC affiliate @ksdknews, which broadcast footage of Darren Wilson’s home pic.twitter.com/HPdTct0TQb
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 17, 2014
There are perhaps 125 people at this pro-Darren Wilson protest. 124 white people and Martin Baker, aged 44 pic.twitter.com/6DaAHPlQtT
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 17, 2014
In a Facebook post, Jeffery Eaton, the band’s lyricist wrote that he simply could not stand by and watch the unfolding in Ferguson Missouri, where an unarmed 18-year-old was murdered by a police officer.
In the post, Jeffery wrote;
I’ve been glued to twitter and live streams of Ferguson since last Saturday Night when unarmed 18 year old Mike Brown was shot to death by a police officer. All week I have been hesitant to speak, trying to wrap my mind around the complexities of it all while watching the demonstrations, protests and clashes with police. Now it’s 4 am on Saturday Night and I can’t sleep because all I can do is think about it. I realize I will never have the perfect words so for now, I will let them spill out and explain why I must.
I have no specific authority to speak on the subject, but I’ve been writing lyrics about life in this country for over a decade now. I view it as a conversation from the perspective of an angry American with other angry Americans. Ferguson must be a part of that conversation because it’s so important and happening so close to home. I am only speaking to encourage us all to look at our lives and the world around us honestly and to go much deeper than the mass media or advertising world had planned for us. I only want for each of us to claim the dignity that we deserve.
So what can I say about it? At the very least I can say that I don’t condone murder, especially when committed by a person hired to serve and protect us and paid by for by our tax dollars. I can say that the burning anger in Ferguson goes far beyond looting and random violence. This is not a temper tantrum or an excuse. This is a symptom of the disease. I think the people out on the streets in Ferguson are fed up. I think they are tired of being marginalized and pushed down. They are mourning the death of this young man, and are also very aware that his death has come to symbolize the disease. America is sick and we are angry. We want to be proud Americans, but we live under a shadow of shame. We don’t want our names on the bombs that burn the bodies of innocent people in the Middle East, but we know they are. We know we are not the world and we don’t want to be. Our America is our beautiful American music and the collective kind hardworking and independent spirit of the majority of our citizens. We know that no life is more valuable than another no matter where we were born or what color our skin is. Our leaders are not properly representing us and they do not have our best interests in mind. The endless war has not been justified to us and does not represent us. We feel more threatened than protected by the police. We are hostages to the dream. Our dignity, compassion and intelligence is being mocked by the actions of those in power.
Strong work ethic will hopefully result in a simple humble life. Striving for the security of the upper class may mean falling short and drowning in debt. Greed may give you your dream home and a luxury car, it will certainly give you Ferguson, Missouri and Flint, Michigan. No matter what side of which argument you identify with, you must admit that there must be winners and losers in the game we play in this country. There is not enough room for us all in the upper class. If there was there would be no one to keep the castles clean. Whether by choice, circumstance or failure, we find ourselves at the bottom of the dream.
And the questions… So who are these people? Am I really one of them? Have we done it to ourselves? Should we all put our heads down and shut our mouths, work harder to make more money to insulate our lives from the poor neighborhoods and the anger and struggle that exists within them? Should we focus on a handful of looters and ignore the justified anger? Should we ignore the disease? Should we be scared to speak because we are not experts on capitalism, law enforcement, health car and international politics? Does this country belong to us? Does the world belong to us? Do our lives belong to us? Should I expect to be mocked for identifying more closely with the angry people in the streets of Ferguson than with the silent sinking middle class? Should we hope that last night was the last night in the streets? Should the people go home and get back to work before catching the attention of the entire nation and the entire world? Is it worth it?
Most of us would prefer to sweep these confounding problems aside and keep enjoying the ride, but it’s becoming more and more clear than we need to stop and change directions. Netflix and alcohol are not enough to keep our minds off it and now it’s past 5 am on Sunday Morning and the sun is coming up on my humble street in Kansas City. I don’t want to deal with it but I know that I am a heartless coward if I do not face it, so I let the words spill out. This won’t be posted till I get some sleep and give myself a chance to remain silent and do my part in maintaining the status quo. America, we’ve been going the wrong way for a long time. Ferguson slammed on the brakes, howled and bit back when Mike Brown was brutally murdered last week. Monday morning did not mean getting back to the grind and the next Saturday Night was not about having a beer and a laugh. Each moment since his life ended has been about problems that can no longer be ignored. #Ferguson #mikebrown
All across the globe people are seeing the injustice in the murder of Michael Brown. All across the globe, except right here at home, where Mike Brown is essentially being blamed, his character being assassinated, as if he caused the cop to murder him.
“Oops, wrong story. Just ‘whacky’ Penn State kids protesting JoePa’s Firing” – Dab Aggin
– Where were the riot gears? Snipers? Armored military response? Oh… wrong color maybe…
The innuendos and falsehoods included in their broadcast to their uninformed audience on Sunday morning was enough to win Fox News an award for the most nonsense said in a 3 min segment. And they have tons of segments to choose from.
On Sunday’s edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Tucker Carlson seemed utterly amazed that “40 FBI Agents” are investigating the incident in Ferguson. “That is such a shocking number,” the idiot said, as he complained about the federal investigation into Brown’s execution.
“What’s the point of that?” Carlson asked. “You don’t need FBI agents to investigate a killing, that’s what the police department is for!”
Of course Carlson refused to see the ignorance of his statement and he refused to acknowledge that this same police department brought out tanks, snipers and flash grenades to battle citizens who were peacefully protesting the killing of an unarmed teenager in the streets.
Carlson wanted that police department to investigate the killing, a killing that involves one of their own – a police officer – who pulled the trigger, pumping multiple rounds into Brown’s body. The same police department that protected their ‘brother’ by not even releasing his name for almost a week! They, Carlson argues, should be the ones investigating the crime!
But as abhorrent as that argument was, his co-host totally took the cake.
Juliet Huddy, sitting between the two ferns, contributed her two cents by insinuating that maybe, just maybe the officer was “justified” in emptying his clip into the human being until he laid dead, lifeless in the street. Now, we are not sure if the police officer – later identified as Darren Wilson – emptied his clip, but according to multiple eye witnesses and the police protected autopsy, Brown was shot multiple times. And eyewitnesses indicated that some of those shots hit Brown in his back as he ran away for his life.
Huddy however, thinks there could be some justification for this.
Her two cents came as the two ferns besides her argued that the Justice Department had other motives when they asked the police department not to release the video showing someone, allegedly Michael Brown, robbing a convenience store. “Releasing the video would incite more protests,” the Justice Department said, but of course, the ferns believed the nonsense swirling around in their heads.
Huddy then dropped this nugget!
“But the thing is that the crowd immediately went out there when they found out that this man was shot — a young black man was shot by a white cop,” she said. “They went out there, they were furious about it.”
She continued:
“Had that tape been out there, had crowd realized that this man might have been robbing a store, there might have been something else criminal going on there, you know, to lend credence to the fact that maybe in some way — we don’t know this — but maybe this officer was justified, maybe this was a bad guy, maybe he wasn’t the ‘gentle giant.’ I’m not saying that’s what it was.”
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Yahoo News released this photo and reports that six months before he shot and killed an unarmed teenager, police Officer Darren Wilson earned a commendation for his “extraordinary effort in the line of duty.”
Yahoo News confirmed the award through the February 11 Ferguson City Council meeting minutes and photos Wilson’s father posted to his Facebook page.
“Very proud of my son, Darren Wilson on his receiving a Commendation from his Police Department,” John Wilson wrote on February 11. “Congratulations Son.”
Wilson gunned down an unarmed and retreating Michael Brown in the streets of Ferguson Missouri last weekend.
As seen on America The Not So Beautiful
August 15, 2014
By Mike Caccioppoli
This will be short. We now know the identity of the officer who executed Michael Brown. His name is Darren Wilson. He needs to be arrested and charged with murder in the first degree immediately. We now have at least three witnesses, all strangers, all witnessing from different angles, the cold blooded murder of Michael Brown. They all depicted in great detail a boy who put his hands up, on his knees and was then shot several times. Wilson was so crazed that he even shot into a home nearby.
It’s time to arrest Darren Wilson. Not only has he not been arrested but we know that he had left town and gone on a paid vacation. This makes me want to throw up. Can you imagine the police allowing a black kid, heck anyone for that matter, to leave town if there was this amount of evidence pointing to them? Anyone who isn’t outraged by this crap can only be a blatant racist, there is no other excuse. I have heard from several of them in the past few days.
We are now seeing the usual character assassination of the victim. A video that has all of a sudden surfaced showing someone who might be Michael Brown stealing something from a convenience store. No information about the killing of Brown but plenty of video about a nickel and dime robbery. This facile attempt to make the victim the bad guy will only go over with the racists. It already has. People who did the same thing when they were teens or had friends who stole gum or cigarettes from a store when they were young are now trying to justify that Brown deserved to be shot 6-8 times while his hands were in the air because he may have stolen something. I guess they feel that they or their friends should have been executed for doing the same thing when they were kids?
Ferguson police chief Tom “stonewall the case” Jackson needs to be removed from duty and now. He is an incompetent fool. He has now flamed the fires again after they were put out by the state police. He simultaneously releases a video that has nothing to do with the execution of Brown while telling everyone that officer Wilson is a wonderful guy that has never had any complaints against him in his six years on the force. Jackson is a joke. He needs to go.
We have a video of an alleged small crime but still NO photo of the killer cop. No evidence being released regarding how many shots Wilson took or how many bullets hit Brown. No real details about the killing at all.
At least three witnesses now. All telling eerily similar accounts of the murder of an 18 year old boy. Hands in the air, on his knees, begging to not be shot. Executed in cold blood.
Darren Wilson needs to be arrested for murder in the first degree. Now!
Mike.Caccioppoli@yahoo.com
@CaccioppoliMike
Visit America The Not So Beautiful
We now know the name of the man who murdered Michael Brown on the streets of Ferguson Missouri last weekend.
Officer Darren Wilson is a six year veteran of the Ferguson police department, and a longtime resident of the St. Louis area. Police chief Jon Belmar said that Wilson did not have any disciplinary issues.
An overwhelmed Belmar also confirmed that Wilson was responding to a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store in the the area, and the suspect highly resembled Michael Brown. He released a timeline of the dispatch records, as well as security tape of the robbery in question.
State Senator Maria Chappelle Nadel is not very fond of Gov. Nixon. After calling him out on MSNBC yesterday stating that he is a “coward,” for not taking control senator of the situation in Ferguson, Chappelle wasn’t done. She used her twitter account to respond directly to a tweet sent from the governor’s account.
Jay Nixon’s twitter message was one he delivered earlier in his press conference when he removed the local police and their horrendous handling of the protesters in Ferguson. The tear gas throwing, rubber bullets firing cops were replaced by State Patrol officers, and Nixon’s message was in reference to the actions of the local police.
“Situation in Ferguson does not represent who we are,” Nixon said. “Must keep the peace, while safeguarding rights if citizens and the press. ”
But that did not go over well with the Senator, who has accused the governor of not caring about the people in that district. “He has not come to ground zero,” she has said in interviews, and she called the governor’s handling of the shooting of Michael Brown “Nixon’s Katrina.”
“You don’t know shit,” Maria tweeted, “bc you never communicate. FUCK you governor.”
