Here is a new post about the murder of Michael Brown, the unarmed young man gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri.
Trudy @thetrudz
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[TW] After a lynching, the body left on tree for a while. 3 reasons. To make images of it. To entertain Whites. Psych warfare on Black ppl
Trudy@thetrudz
And this reason, this context, this history, and this power, *directly* connects to Michael Brown’s execution and his body left in street.
Trudy @thetrudz
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DIRECTLY. It is not a metaphor. It is not a trope. Not use of Black death for non-BP anti-Blackness. His execution = legacy of lynching.
9:11 PM – 10 Aug 2014
BGD @BlackGirlDanger
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Of course. It fits the oppressor’s narrative. RT @AngryBlackLady: now the media is going to focus on looting rather than the shooting.
9:31 PM – 10 Aug 2014
Imani ABL @AngryBlackLady
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Police in Ferguson running around in riot gear like they’re not the ones who are a threat. Please.
9:37 PM – 10 Aug 2014
Welcome to the Gaza Strip USA. Not to change the subject here completely, but when you have Israeli security companies now training USA law enforcement personnel on “anti-terror” techniques Americans are now and then going to get a taste of what Palestinians have to put up with EVERY DAY under Israeli military occupation. And the way things seem to be going in the USA, it won’t be long until Israel has made ALL Americans Palestinians!
The officer that shot this young man should be tried for murder, pure and simple, and if he isn’t, I’m sure the rest of his life will be a living nightmare if vengeance is indeed the Lord’s provenance!
I completely agree with you. Thank God there are people like you in this world.
Eli Rosenberg @EliKMBC
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#BREAKING: @TheJusticeDept representatives have just arrived at #Ferguson PD to meet with Police Chief.
11:11 AM – 12 Aug 2014
Tuesday, Aug 12, 2014 06:45 AM CDT
In defense of black rage: Michael Brown, police and the American dream
I don’t support the looting in Ferguson, Missouri. But I’m also tired of “turning the other cheek” and forgiving
Brittney Cooper
On Saturday a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager on his way to college this week. Brown was shot multiple times, though his hands were in the air. His uncovered body was left in the street for hours, as a crowd from his neighborhood gathered to stand vigil. Then they marched down to the police station. On Sunday evening, some folks in the crowd looted a couple of stores and threw bottles at the police. Monday morning was marked by peaceful protests.
The people of Ferguson are angry. Outraged. The officer’s story is dubious. Any black kid with sense knows it is futile to reach into an officer’s vehicle and take his gun. That story is only plausible to people who believe that black people are animals, that black men go looking for cops to pick fights with. Absurdity. Eyewitness accounts like these make far more sense.
It seems far easier to focus on the few looters who have reacted unproductively to this tragedy than to focus on the killing of Michael Brown. Perhaps looting seems like a thing we can control. I refuse. I refuse to condemn the folks engaged in these acts, because I respect black rage. I respect black people’s right to cry out, shout and be mad as hell that another one of our kids is dead at the hands of the police. Moreover I refuse the lie that the opportunism of a few in any way justifies or excuses the murderous opportunism undertaken by this as yet anonymous officer.
The police mantra is “to serve and to protect.” But with black folks, we know that’s not the mantra. The mantra for many, many officers when dealing with black people is apparently “kill or be killed.
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/12/in_defense_of_black_rage_michael_brown_police_and_the_american_dream/
https://twitter.com/randyprine/status/499194473533165569/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NoShock/status/499211948580700161/photo/1
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/499210198234726401/photo/1
Maybe we can watch it at this link:
http://fox2now.com/on-air/live-streaming-2/
Thank you!
This petition now has 41,915 signatures!
https://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-please-enact-new-federal-laws-to-protect-citizens-from-police-violence-and-misconduct
UPDATED: the newspapers now say that this woman is NOT his wife….we’ll see.
the wife of the Ferguson police chief, ladies and gentleman.
Black folks paying the taxes to pay this muthafuckas salary and she wants to talk about leeching off the government.
https://twitter.com/Infyrno23/status/499024036752818176/photo/1
Racist depravity!
Witness to Michael Brown Shooting Speaks; Police Don’t Want to Hear It
By Joe Coscarelli
Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri. As of Tuesday morning, the friend he was walking with at the time has yet to be interviewed by law enforcement. The story he’s told, in an exclusive report by MSNBC (//www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri) , does not match the still-vague official version of events St. Louis County police have shared so far, in which the 18-year-old Brown tried to get into the cop car and reached for the officer’s weapon.
“I saw the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” said Dorian Johnson, 22, the closest eyewitness to the shooting. “Then I saw the fire come out of the barrel.”
Brown was killed in broad daylight, just after 2 p.m. Johnson was there, having caught up with his friend by chance as he walked around his neighborhood. Here’s what happened next, according to Johnson and MSNBC (//www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri) :
The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
In Johnson’s telling, “Mike was trying to get away from being choked … He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’” He did, but Brown, hit at least once already, managed to run away, Johnson said, until the officer shot again. And then again. As St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar put it at a press conference (//www.kmov.com/news/local/St-Louis-County-PD-holding-press-conference-Sunday-morning-270638431.html) on Sunday, Brown was shot “more than just a couple of times, but not much more.” The officer in question has not yet been named.
Johnson’s attorney, Freeman Bosley, the former mayor of St. Louis, told MSNBC (//www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri) , “They didn’t even want to talk to him. They don’t want the facts. What they want is to justify what happened … what they are trying to do now is justify what happened instead of trying to point out the wrong
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/mike-brown-shooting-witness-speaks.html
HA! Powerful, chilling IMAGES.
Yes.
I hope I can find a full video of this and all of his words.
Wish we could fill up stadiums across the U.S. to gather in order to protest against the killing of Michael Brown.
You’re in my head. I was just thinking how I wish I could be there in Ferguson with the people.
Yes, and I was thinking….”How can I get to Ferguson, and where do I stay?”
He is setting up conditions now for “stop and frisk” ….you just wait and see!!!!!!!
Murder in the First
Posted by John Cole +0 at 10:42 am Aug 122014
This MSNBC interview with an eyewitness to the Michael Brown shooting (which, unless you have twitter, you probably haven’t heard about because every major network has simply refused to cover the story in any detail whatsoever) is absolutely chilling:
The police say the officer shot Brown after the teen shoved the officer and tried to wrestle the officer’s gun from him. But a number of witnesses, including Johnson, refute those claims. And in the wake of the shooting, the Ferguson Police Department has asked the St. Louis County police to step in and take over the investigation.
***
About 20 minutes before the shooting, Johnson said he saw Brown walking down the street and decided to catch up with him. The two walked and talked. That’s when Johnson says they saw the police car rolling up to them.
The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
“I could see the muscles in his forearm,” Johnson said. “Mike was trying to get away from being choked.”
“They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went from his throat to now clenched on his shirt,” Johnson explained of the scene between Brown and the officer. “It’s like tug of war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’”
At that moment, Johnson says he fixed his gaze on the officer to see if he was pulling a stun gun or a real gun. That’s when he saw the muzzle of the officer’s gun.
“I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” he said. “He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more time.”
A second later Johnson said he heard the first shot go off.
“I seen the fire come out of the barrell,” he said. “I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close.”
Johnson says he was within arm’s reach of both Brown and the officer. He looked over at Brown and saw blood pooling through his shirt on the right side of the body.
“The whole time [the officer] was holding my friend until the gun went off,” Johnson noted.
Brown and Johnson took off running together. There were three cars lined up along the side of the street. Johnson says he ducked behind the first car, whose two passengers were screaming. Crouching down a bit, he watched Brown run past.
“Keep running, bro!,” he said Brown yelled. Then Brown yelled it a second time. Those would be the last words Johnson’s friend, “Big Mike,” would ever say to him.
Brown made it past the third car. Then, “blam!” the officer took his second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point, Johnson says Brown stopped, turned with his hands up and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”
By that point, Johnson says the officer and Brown were face-to-face. The officer then fired several more shots. Johnson described watching Brown go from standing with his hands up to crumbling to the ground and curling into a fetal position.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri
Recipe? IT’S DYNAMITE!
With each bit of news and posted statistics, the running of Ferguson by these Whites is beginning to seem like a page out of the horrendous Jim Crow days when LE was depraved in its treatment of Blacks.
You got it. Black people were stopped by the Po Po 4632 times in 2013. Unbelievable. The racial profiling is off the charts.
And the PD’s attempt to hide the evidence, to ignore eyewitness accounts, and “steal” eyewitness videos speaks volumes!
Ferguson, MO, is 67 percent black, and its police force is 94 percent white
Updated by Lauren Williams on August 12, 2014, 9:50 a.m. ET @laurenwilliams
Ferguson, MO, is a black town. In 2010, the St. Louis suburb was 67.4 percent black and 29.3 percent white. But if you looked at the city’s leadership, you would never know it.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Ferguson’s police chief and mayor are white. Of the six City Council members, one is black. The local school board has six white members and one Latino. Of the 53 commissioned officers on the police force, three are black, said Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson.
As my colleague Dara Lind has pointed out, a state report on racial profiling revealed that last year, 86 percent of traffic stops and 92 percent of all arrests in the city were of black residents. For anyone who didn’t understand the context of Ferguson residents’ anger and frustration, and why the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager Saturday caused it to bubble over, think of these arrest stats. Then compare the demographics of the city to the demographics of its police force and city council.
http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/12/5994181/ferguson-is-67-percent-black-and-its-police-force-is-94-percent-white
Breaking: Ferguson PD chief says it will NOT release name of officer involved in Michael Brown shooting.
Here we go, y’all! The fix is in.
Flashback:Sanford police didn’t want to release the 911 calls abt Trayvon Martin shooting. @attorneycrump got it done! He’ll get this done!
And remember how the teacher witness (Jane) to the killing of Trayvon had to take her eyewitness account to Ashley Banfield on MSNBC to get it out?
Yes indeed!
Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend’s death
08/12/14 12:33 AM—Updated 08/12/14 09:37 AM
By Trymaine Lee
FERGUSON, Missouri — The last moments of Michael Brown’s life were filled with shock, fear and terror, says a witness who stood just feet away as a police officer shot and killed the unarmed teen.
“I saw the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” said Dorian Johnson, 22. “Then I saw the fire come out of the barrel.”
Johnson, in an exclusive interview with msnbc, said what began as an order by a police officer to ‘get the f— onto the sidewalk’ quickly escalated into a physical altercation and then, gunfire.
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, 8/11/14, 10:33 PM ET
“I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close,” said Johnson, who said he was within arm’s reach of both Brown and the officer when the first of several shots was fired at the teen. Johnson says he feared for his life as he watched the officer squeezing off shot after shot
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
“…last year, 86% of traffic stops and 92% of all arrests in the city were of black residents.” http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/12/5994181/ferguson-is-67-percent-black-and-its-police-force-is-94-percent-white … #Ferguson
Huffington Post ✔ @HuffingtonPost
Lawyer: Police haven’t talked to the Michael Brown shooting witness http://huff.to/1pMia4K
Retweeted by PragmaticObotsUnite
https://twitter.com/LuvLiteracy/status/499043709905022976/photo/1
Wow.
That is what courage looks like.
Stay calm, folks.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-missouri-police-shooting-protests-20140811-story.html
Excerpt:
When a Los Angeles Times reporter would interview one of the young demonstrators, the message was often the same, give or take a profanity: They wanted respect from the police. And they didn’t want to become another Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed man shot to death by police on Saturday.
Then they would go back to shouting at the police.
“These are the next kids to get shot, right here,” said Troy Woods, 48, of St. Louis, gesturing at the demonstrators — “16, 17, 18 years old. … They treat us like second class all the way down the line.”
Ricky Jones, 34, shouted his grievances. “Insurance is high, gas is high, but that’s not why I get mad,” he said. “At the end of the day, when I’m driving home, they ask me to pull over and get out of the car. No ‘license and registration, please.’ Get out of the car. Lay on the ground. Put your hands on your head.”
And whenever the next young black man gets killed by police, like Brown, he says, “it doesn’t even matter what the story is.” The outcome, he says, is basically the same.
So MUCH for those STATES RIGHTS. This is why the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is NEEDED. And it’s the reason why you hear some white folks SCREAM state rights.
WE SEE YOU
I agree, Ametia. The Confederacy will always be the Confederacy, apparently, no matter how much time passes. And the rest of the states have problems too.
x 1000!
“Insurance is high, gas is high, but that’s not why I get mad,” he said. “At the end of the day, when I’m driving home, they ask me to pull over and get out of the car. No ‘license and registration, please.’ Get out of the car. Lay on the ground. Put your hands on your head.”
Clearest, most articulate statement of the day.
How hard is it to understand what this man is saying?
It’s called INTIMIDATION & HARRASSMENT. PERIOD. And that’s a CRIME.
These police departments need FUMIGATING. They’re full of DEADLY PEST!
Just listen to how Michael Brown’s mom, Leslie McSpadden, says how she was treated at the scene by police:
http://youtu.be/cZ6oF_tW5ws&rel=0
Shame on the police!
And shame on the police chief in his first news conference when he would not acknowledge or give the eyewitness accounts but just the account of the officer who executed Michael!
How can a community respect a police department like that? How can a community have confidence in such a PD?
No wonder the community is marching and demonstrating so steadfastly!
No wonder the community of Ferguson is so frustrated!
No wonder the community feels betrayed by the police who are supposed to serve them and protect them!
Minna Hong @asiangrrlMN
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If the #Ferguson police can act like this KNOWING that the whole country is watching, imagine what they do without the cameras on them.
11:02 PM – 11 Aug 2014
These redneck lawmen aren’t on top of things like changing demographics or changing values in America and they believe they have the support of most Americans. They think they are heroes, despite the murder of the young, black man by one of their own. They are a brotherhood, trained to think like a homogeneous unit and not as an individual, or not think at all. Right now they are all about law and order, which is interesting, because this started with a murder that they are responsible for. Their ability to commit murder, fabricate a lie, and then believe they are upholding the law is truly astounding.
I fail to see their humanity. Are they robots or what?
David Carson ✔ @PDPJ
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Police to protesters “if you go home we can go home” Protesters “we are home” #Ferguson
10:43 PM – 11 Aug 2014
David CarsonVerified account @PDPJ·
Being ordered to leave scene threatened with arrest #Ferguson
Liberal Librarian @Lib_Librarian
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Reporters can work in the middle of the Gaza war, but are threatened with arrest in #Ferguson.
9:57 PM – 11 Aug 2014
http://twitter.com/AntonioFrench/status/499022913182646273/photo/1
Charles Clymer @cmclymer
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Apparently, 50 white men protesting a black president = “citizenship”. 50 black men grieving dead black child = “an angry mob”. #MikeBrown
11:21 PM – 9 Aug 2014
Bobfr @Our4thEstate
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Situation in #Ferguson is no different than situation in #EasternUkraine – perpetrators (Police, Putin) with a violence-inciting agenda.
9:16 PM – 11 Aug 2014
Zandar @ZandarVTS
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Dear whiny emoprogs and gun loons: #Ferguson is what actually having your civil rights violated looks like.
9:02 PM – 11 Aug 2014
Mmiri (Brooke) Obie ✔ @BrookeObie
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Hey, Libertarians! That #PoliceState you’ve been fearmongering about is actually happening in #Ferguson. Why so silent?
9:02 PM – 11 Aug 2014
Yeah, why are you so silent??
Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons,
Is as important as
The killing of White men, White mothers’ sons,
We who believe in freedom cannot rest.
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.
~ “Ella’s Song”
http://youtu.be/LoPofPzkJ4U&rel=0
Retweeted by Shannon In Miami
Shirley’s Grandson @imfromraleigh
THREE of the Ferguson Police Department’s 53 members are Black. Ferguson, Missouri is a 67% Black city.
“Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend’s death”
08/12/14
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri
Excerpt:
About 20 minutes before the shooting, Johnson said he saw Brown walking down the street and decided to catch up with him. The two walked and talked. That’s when Johnson says they saw the police car rolling up to them.
The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
“I could see the muscles in his forearm,” Johnson said. “Mike was trying to get away from being choked.”
“They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went from his throat to now clenched on his shirt,” Johnson explained of the scene between Brown and the officer. “It’s like tug of war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’”
At that moment, Johnson says he fixed his gaze on the officer to see if he was pulling a stun gun or a real gun. That’s when he saw the muzzle of the officer’s gun.
“I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” he said. “He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more time.”
A second later Johnson said he heard the first shot go off.
“I seen the fire come out of the barrell,” he said. “I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close.”
Johnson says he was within arm’s reach of both Brown and the officer. He looked over at Brown and saw blood pooling through his shirt on the right side of the body.
“The whole time [the officer] was holding my friend until the gun went off,” Johnson noted.
Brown and Johnson took off running together. There were three cars lined up along the side of the street. Johnson says he ducked behind the first car, whose two passengers were screaming. Crouching down a bit, he watched Brown run past.
“Keep running, bro!,” he said Brown yelled. Then Brown yelled it a second time. Those would be the last words Johnson’s friend, “Big Mike,” would ever say to him.
Brown made it past the third car. Then, “blam!” the officer took his second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point, Johnson says Brown stopped, turned with his hands up and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”
By that point, Johnson says the officer and Brown were face-to-face. The officer then fired several more shots. Johnson described watching Brown go from standing with his hands up to crumbling to the ground and curling into a fetal position.
“After seeing my friend get gunned down, my body just ran,” he said. He ran to his apartment nearby. Out of breath, shocked and afraid, Johnson says he went into the bathroom and vomited. Then he checked to make sure that he hadn’t also been shot.
Five minutes later, Johnson emerged from his apartment to see his friend Mike dead and in the middle of the street. Neighbors were gathering, some shouting, some taking pictures with their cell phones.
Freeman Bosley, Johnson’s attorney, told msnbc that the police have yet to interview Johnson. Bosley said that he offered the police an opportunity to speak with Johnson, but they declined.
“They didn’t even want to talk to him,” said Bosley, a former mayor of St. Louis. “They don’t want the facts. What they want is to justify what happened … what they are trying to do now is justify what happened instead of trying to point out the wrong. Something is wrong here and that’s what it is.”
Here is the CBCnews interview video with Johnson:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/World/ID/2485993968/
The DOJ will interview Johnson for a long, long time and what he has to say will matter.
Cops know better than anyone that when you’re lying you say as little as possible and you don’t search for facts that contradict the version of events that you just made up.
**************
4632 stops? DAMN!
Unbelievable.
https://twitter.com/andybankertv/status/498979708353400832/photo/1
Live stream Ferguson
http://new.livestream.com/ktvi/live
May God bring about a new justice in Ferguson and bless and baptize it with the tears of all who have been victims and targets of injustice and racism.
” Latest Videos from FERGUSON ! Mike Brown Killed by Police in Ferguson [HD]”
http://youtu.be/xaF8JkfeXDk&rel=0
Stay calm, folks.
“USA: Michael Brown “executed” by cops, says civil rights attorney”
http://youtu.be/Fv6Sy8p6rDk&rel=0
Thanks, SG2, for keeping us up to date by posting Antonio French’s video clips!
I just figured out that I can click the audio symbol in the top left corner of each video in order to hear the sound.
**********************
Just look at them with dogs and everything. No one is starting trouble but the police.
It may be true that the police are trying to provoke a reaction but that doesn’t excuse the citizens for giving them the reaction they want.
Attorney Ben Crump came straight out in his press conference and called it an execution.
That is exactly what it was.
Black Lives Matter. Eric Garner Was Last Month and Now Mike Brown
My spirit is bothered and my heart hurts because another Black boy has been killed senselessly by a police officer. Every day, Black and brown boys and girls are murdered without justice and without reason. But there’s a special kick in the chest when it happens at the hands of law enforcement officers. Because what are they enforcing besides the systemic genocide of people of color?
Last month, it was Eric Garner who was put in a chokehold by NYPD and it ended the asthmatic man’s life. There was video footage of that and the city’s medical examiner surprisingly made the right calling and ruled his death a homicide. Saturday, it was Mike Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, shot while unarmed with his hands up and on his knees. A police officer shot him multiple times as he was showing that he was no threat. His body laid face down and his blood ran in the streets.
There were many witnesses and footage on camera phones have been released. In broad daylight, in front of people, in the middle of the street, a police officer shot an unarmed Black boy several times. Because of what? Because he was EMBOLDENED enough to do it. Because that boy’s humanity doesn’t matter. Because he knew he could kill him and walk away. Because what’s another black boy dead?
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2014/08/black-lives-matter-mike-brown.html
Well, the executioner is going to be identified soon and I’m betting he’s really surprised by the backlash so far. He probably still believes that nothing will happen to him after the smoke clears, but I doubt he ever thought that the DOJ would be investigating him. He’s a lawman, or at least he’s employed as a lawman, and he can be charged with violation of civil rights, it doesn’t have to be a hate crime. I suspect he’s given that some thought.
I hope he ends up in a cage and I don’t care how he gets there.
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown and What Hashtag Activism Does Right
…The term “hashtag activism” has become a kind of putdown lately, with the connotation that it’s substituting gestures for action, as if getting something trending is a substitute for actually going out and engaging with the world. And sometimes the criticism is justified: no amount of social-media RT-ing managed to capture guerrilla leader Joseph Kony, for instance.
But #IfTheyGunnedMeDown was a simple, ingenious DIY form of media criticism: direct, powerful, and meaningful on many levels. It made the blunt point that every time a media outlet chooses a picture of someone like Brown, it makes a statement. It created identification: so many ordinary people–students, servicemen and women, community volunteers–could be made to look like a public menace with one photo dropped in a particular context. And it made a particular racial point: that it’s so much easier, given our culture’s racial baggage, for a teenager of color to be made to look like a “thug” than white teen showing off for a camera the exact same way.
It was a brilliant media critique, and while Twitter and other platforms may have no magical power to stop shootings or catch warlords, one thing they are very good at is catching the attention of the media. Journalists pay attention to Twitter–disproportionate attention, maybe–and that makes it a very, very good place to deliver the modern version of a letter to the editor. You could say similar of #YesAllWomen, or of the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag of earlier this year: no, it didn’t have the power to free the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram, but it did put the story on homepages and newscasts often resistant to overseas news, especially from sub-Saharan Africa….
http://time.com/3101550/iftheygunnedmedown-hashtag-activism-michael-brown-twitter/
Yamiche Alcindor ✔ @Yamiche
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Mother of #MikeBrown told me: “He was really good at … taking things apart and putting them back together. He was almost like a healer.”
12:10 PM – 11 Aug 2014
Yamiche Alcindor ✔ @Yamiche
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I just talked to the mother of #MikeBrown She said: “He fixed things. He didn’t create problems. … He didn’t mean any harm to anybody.”
12:06 PM – 11 Aug 2014
It takes a creative mind to have this kind of talent. Sounds like Michael really accessed and used his God given talents.
I’ve gotten the impression that he was a really sweet kid. No one has had anything other than good things to say about him. I feel so bad for his mother, for everyone who knew him, but mostly his mother.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/498930960147034113/photo/1
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 11, 2014
Statement by Attorney General Holder on Recent Shooting Incident in Ferguson, Missouri
Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Monday regarding the shooting incident that took place Saturday afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri:
“The shooting incident in Ferguson, Missouri this weekend deserves a fulsome review. In addition to the local investigation already underway, FBI agents from the St. Louis field office, working together with attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and US Attorney’s Office, have opened a concurrent, federal inquiry. The federal investigation will supplement, rather than supplant, the inquiry by local authorities. At every step, we will work with the local investigators, who should be prepared to complete a thorough, fair investigation in their own right. I will continue to receive regular updates on this matter in the coming days. Aggressively pursuing investigations such as this is critical for preserving trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/August/14-ag-844.html
I just awoke from a nap.
I hope I will be able to see a video of the news conferences.
County Prosecutors office confirms that Michael Brown had no adult criminal record.
I bet that was a big disappointment to the Ferguson PD.
And wingnuts too. I read where they were planning to start a massive smear campaign. Ha!
Yeah, now they have to make it all up.
uh huh
uh huh
Michael was going to start college today, instead we’re planning his funeral. I.JUST.CAN’T
Attorney Crump speaking…Michael Brown’s mother weeping. I have tears too.
Lord have MERCY, there’s so much grief from mama. May God bless this family in their time of grief and sorrow.
Honestly, I don’t know how these families get through this. The cop executioner never gave it a thought, that this kid had a mother and family and people who loved and cared about him. That the kid had dreams of doing something with his life.
Instead, we’ve got the NRA and other rightwing extremists reducing people’s lives as if they are nothing, as if people can just be born and die and it doesn’t really matter when or how. And we have these cops who think they can kill with impunity as though it is never going to change for cops, they’ll always be able to do this as long as they are wearing a badge.
Shame on you, Ferguson Police Department. Shame on you for your racism and your lawlessness. Every last one of you should resign voluntarily. I hope that the Department of Justice uncovers what has been going on in your corrupt little world. Who in the blazing hell do you think you are fooling?
his mother broke my heart.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney plans to hold a press conference
http://fox2now.com/on-air/live-streaming-2/
Expect lies.
Let me try to find a live link.
Police have declared an open season for killing black men
For you, Liza
TY, SG2.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ferguson?src=hash
I meant to post a tweet that said that Ferguson Police Chief said that the decision about releasing the officer’s name would be Ferguson’s and not St. Louis LE.
Retweeted by Brittany Noble KMOV
Diana Zoga KMOV @DIANAZOGA · 3h
Chief Jon Belmar: Autopsy completed, results won’t be released now. But, #MikeBrown hit “several times” by gunfire.
2 hours ago:
https://twitter.com/Mike_Colombo/status/498882330782875648/photo/1
Police officers patrol the area Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.
Flashback: Bull Connor ordered police dogs on black demonstrators in May 1963
Bull Connor was a POS.
https://twitter.com/LenGotGame/status/498875166978748416/photo/1
Except that the black man being dragged is wearing a suit and tie. The thugs are wearing cop uniforms.
HELLO!
They sure are a sorry looking lot.
But, apparently, all they do when they aren’t at the Dunkin Donuts store is terrorize the black folks in that town.
And I’ll bet the murderer isn’t in the lineup. I wonder what they’ve done with him. They can’t hide him forever.
Probably vacationing. Remember, this POS is on paid administrative leave!
IT’S INTIMIDATION
http://abcnews.go.com/US/witness-missouri-teens-hands-cop-shot/story?id=24920358
Excerpt:
A woman who says she witnessed the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer said the 18-year-old had his hands up when he was killed.
The witness said Brown, 18, had turned around and was facing police with his hands in the air when the officer fired. She said a stray bullet from the police officer’s gun hit a neighbor’s home, and she was surprised no one else was injured.
“I saw him turn around with his arms up in the air and they shot him in his face and chest and he went down unarmed,” Piaget Crenshaw said.
To commit murder in cold blood like that, the cop must have been mighty confident there would be no consequences for him. Either that or he was out of his f**king mind. But I vote for systemic corruption.
I would imagine there is one, long sad history in that town.
I’ll take all of the above for 1000, Liza!
https://twitter.com/WendellPierce/status/498884679894716416/photo/1
After my boys received their driver’s license, this is what I drilled into them if they were ever stopped by the police. It could be a matter of life and death!
1.Do what the officer tells you.
2. Keep your hands on the wheel.
3. Make NO sudden moves.
4. Please use Yes sir & No sir.
Well, there you have it……the mindset of many of the Ferguson PD.
I lot of true feelings (usually covert and guarded) come out when people are under stress. Now we know what this police officer really thinks!
I = “A”
And their calling Ferguson citizens animals (Black citizens) that is, proves they don’t consider them to be HUMAN BEINGS.
What did I say?
The Ferguson cops need psychological evaluations followed by dismissals.
This is why cops have strong labor unions.
You were on it. Nailed it!
What a gentle guy!
https://twitter.com/carimachet/status/498782346557292544/photo/1
(request by Michael Brown’s family)
Reblogged this on BLOGGING BAD w/Gunny G ~ "CLINGERS of AMERICA!".
FBI Taking Over Missouri Police Shooting of Teen
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fbi-taking-missouri-police-shooting-teen-24929031
Police say the FBI is taking over the investigation of a suburban St. Louis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson tells The Associated Press that he was informed Monday that the FBI was going to take over the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Jackson says he welcomes the move.
Police say the teen was shot multiple times Saturday in a scuffle with an officer.
Tensions erupted in Ferguson after a candlelight vigil Sunday night. Crowds looted and burned stores, vandalized vehicles and taunted officers who tried to block access to parts of the city. Nearly three dozen people were arrested, though the area was relatively quiet early Monday.
The FBI in St. Louis didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
This is good, but you know the corrupt Ferguson PD has destroyed evidence.
The chief has already put out there is no dash cam video of the shooting. Why not?
I recall reading somewhere they hadn’t been installed yet, still in the box. You know those redneck Ferguson lawmen are living in the 60s. They don’t want what they do to be on camera because it would impact their criminal activity.
White trash cops. This whole damn event is straight out of the Jim Crow south except for the part about the cops taking people’s cell phones.
It’s good the FBI is honing in while memories of witnesses are fresh.
Black people are oppressed oppressed day after day, our kids are shot down in the street like a dog & when you fight back “it’s look at them, they’re angry”.
Thank you, SG2, for telling it like it is.
Did you see this?
http://youtu.be/FpfTos6NroM&rel=0
Published on Jul 31, 2014 by WalkRunFly Productions
BROADWAY STARS SEND A MESSAGE ABOUT POLICE VIOLENCE AND THE KILLING OF ERIC GARNER
On July 29th, at 6pm WalkRunFly Productions (Warren Adams & Brandon Victor Dixon) partnered with poet Daniel J. Watts, and over 100 Broadway stars, directors, producers, musicians, choreographers, designers and technicians in Times Square to send a message about violence and the killing of Eric Gardner.
I’ve never seen a dog left in the street to bleed out and left for four hours.
That was intended for public viewing, a message to let the black folks know who is in charge.
These cops are about to learn what it’s like to show your racist a$$ on a national stage, and what you get for a backlash.
But quite frankly, with what we know so far, I think every cop in that Ferguson PD needs to have a psychological evaluation by a competent third party to determine if they are fit to be law enforcement officers.
Hot damn! Liza throwing DOWN! Loves it!
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/498533709659004928/photo/1
https://twitter.com/BuddhaLeeRaye/status/498584787503030273/photo/1
https://twitter.com/Heartbreak_Rell/status/498584169065091072/photo/1