By Charlton S. Stanley, Weekend writer
We should have seen this coming. I believe it is going to get worse before it gets better, if ever. At some point there is going to be a “pitchforks and torches” backlash.
It may be starting in Ferguson, MO. Take a look at one of the latest stories to come out of there. It’s sad that we have to look overseas to get reliable and up to date news about what is happening in the good ol’ US of A. Because of the great sucking sound that is the US corporate mainstream media, people who want to get a more balanced read on the news check sites such as Al Jazerra, The Guardian, RT, The Epoch Times, and Der Spiegel.
This is a brief clip from a story posted yesterday on RT (Russia Today). Emphasis is mine:
Nearly four years to the day before Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson opened fire and killed Brown, 18, a complaint filed in federal court accused the same law enforcement agency of violating the civil rights of a man who says he was badly beaten after being wrongly arrested, then later charged with “destruction of property” for bleeding on the uniforms of the cops alleged to have injured him.
It gets better. Reading the court filings, we learn that on September 20, 2010, Henry Davis missed his exit and found himself in the the St. Louis County community of Ferguson at 3:00 AM. As it happened, there was a warrant was out for a Henry Davis, but the wanted man has a different middle initial, different birth date, and different Social Security number.
However, Davis, a 54 year old African-American welder was assaulted by four officers (one of them female). The records show that he was thrown forcefully into a one-person cell, but the one-person cell already had an occupant. He would have had to sleep on the concrete floor, because the one bunk was already occupied. There was a pile of sleeping mats near the cell, so Davis asked for a sleeping mat. Because he asked for something to sleep on, he was called disobedient. At that point, Davis was thrown to the floor, and put in restraints. During this assault in the jail, one of the officers kicked Davis in the head.
After being restrained and kicked in the jail cell, paramedics took Henry Davis to the hospital where he insisted that his picture be taken before he was treated (photo and story at the link). The Emergency Room doctor diagnosed him with a concussion and stitched him up before releasing Davis back to custody of the Ferguson PD.
He was released 3 days later on a $1500 bond for “destruction of public property.” If they kick and beat you, you better not dare bleed on their uniforms.
Davis sued. When the four officers were deposed, all four denied that they had blood on their uniforms as they had signed on their affidavit of complaints. What does this mean? They either perjured themselves at trial or had falsified affidavit. That level of perjury is a felony. The county prosecutor declined to prosecute because he claimed Davis’, injuries were de minimus.
Let’s take a look at the prosecutor. The St. Louis County Prosecutor is a man named Bob McCulloch. He has a reputation of being extremely harsh in his prosecution of offenders. However, McCulloch has some personal baggage which calls both his judgement and racial neutrality into question. You see, Bob McCulloch is the son of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer Paul McCullouch. Officer Paul McCullough was killed in the line of duty on July 2, 1964. Officer McCullouch was 37 years old at the time. His son, current prosecutor Bob McCulloch was 12 years old in 1964. I remember that cop killing, because we lived in St. Louis, and it happened not far from where I was working at the time. Officer McCullouch was responding to a kidnapping call at the infamous Pruett-Igoe Housing Project when he was shot in the head by the fleeing kidnapper. His killer was a black man.
Bob McCullouch wanted to become a police officer like his father, but lost a leg as a teenager. That eliminated him from joining the police force, so he went to law school and became a prosecutor, a position he has held for the past twenty years. His tenure as a prosecuting attorney has been marked by controversy. He has a reputation as being almost fanatical about prosecuting alleged perpetrators, but turns a blind eye to even the grossest misconduct by law enforcement officers. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a story about him.
Mr. Davis’ injuries were de minimus, and according to McCullouch, not worth pursuing, yet Davis’ spattered blood on the officer’s uniforms did warrant charges. Maybe somebody smarter than me can explain that logic.
Henry Davis sued the city for civil rights violations, but late last year Magistrate Judge Nannette A. Baker ruled in favor the city. His attorneys filed a notice of appeal in March, and the case is currently slated to be considered later this year by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals.
A PDF of the filing to the Eighth Circuit is embedded in the RT article.
–ooOoo–
Trevor Timm has the signed agreement of the County of St. Louis, et.al to NOT arrest journalists/reporters.
I’d link it from his Twitter but it contains an embedded link that is blocked due to WordPress restrictions. His Twitter https://twitter.com/trevortimm
What in the world are the police doing??? Waging war in America?
Max1:
With all due respect to cops, some of whom I represent, it’s an “us” versus “them” world to a lot of them. Especially the young white cops patrolling black areas. This cop lived in a white community and worked in nearby Ferguson for just 2 years. There are only 3 AA cops on that force so his training had to come from white cops. That may help explain it.
https://twitter.com/Asher_Wolf/statuses/501229087445118976
Like I said before Squeeky, everybody lies. The art is finding out why. Why would 4 witnesses all tell the same “lie” ?
mespo
“Everybody lies; the art is figuring out why.”
= = =
Prior run ins between that same officer and victim, perhaps?
Squeeky:
I don’t presume fear as easily as you. It’s unmanly. Like shooting an unarmed kid 6 times.
Squeeky
Just call the store owner a liar and be done with it…
https://twitter.com/trevortimm/statuses/501494032803954688
@mespo
Which is a more believable fact:
1. Video of Gentle Giant shoving clerk/owner with bunches of cigarellos;
2. Statement by clerk/owner that no, the Gentle Giant didn’t steal nuthin’ after all.
Now add to the mix, that you got residents calling for death to Darren Wilson, and burning and looting stores. Which would have a tendency to scare a little dude poopless. Sooo, who is avoiding what here???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Bettykath
Doesn’t sound like bad luck when the chief now claims the officer may have seen the un-stolen cigars despite telling us at first the alleged robbery had nothing to do with the altercation between cop and teenager. Everybody lies; the art is figuring out why.
Squeeky:
At least you’re a sincere in your avoidance of the facts. Do you think we can exclude most all conservatives from juries on the grounds that they, when faced with uncomfortable truths, will simply cover there ears and eyes and exclaim “it’s true because I want it to be!” ?
Well, I am not interested, because I prefer to believe my lying eyes over what somebody says. I saw the Gentle Giant grab the guy in the convenience store and walk out with a bunch of swisher sweets.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
mespo, It’s unfortunate that the chief released the video that gave the negative impression. Lots of people saw that one and too many aren’t interested in finding out that there’s more to the story. The attorney for the store made it very clear that anything that happened at the store had absolutely nothing to do with what happened in the street. Is anyone interested in hearing that?
bettykath:
“I took issue with you’re attempt to change the subject from cop shoots unarmed Black teen to it doesn’t matter because there is more Black on Black crime.”
Aaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhh!
OK, got that out of my system.
I did NOT say it “doesn’t matter because there is more Black on Black crime.”
It is not changing the subject to say it is gross negligence to play the race card all the time, and referred to actual crime statistics.
I have said repeatedly, and consistently, that there is a false narrative that white on black hate crimes is rampant in the black community. They’re so primed that they now routinely riot every single time a non-black shoots a black person. There IS racism in this world, but it is NOT as prevalent as has been said. I specifically stated that I’ve given facts (vs all the opinions and conjecture here) about actual crime statistics. And I have said that it would be nice if the community would unite against the real threats to their black youth. I would love to see gangs busted up and thrown out of the community by a united front. Same thing with drug dealers and other thugs. Throw them out by their ear.
I have repeatedly and consistently said that I want an impartial investigation into what actually happened, and justice instead of a lynch mob. I have consistently commented against police wrongdoing on this and other threads.
The chief of police gave a statement that there was a fight inside the cop car, which was cooperated by a witness statement that I heard on audio. But I’ll give you that one, that this might turn out to be false. We’ll add that to the “wait for the investigation to be completed for further information” pile. I’ll also add the “there was never a robbery” to the pile of “waiting for further information.” Because another fact is that the officer did not know he was a suspect in any robbery at the time the whole fiasco started.
So, basically, you agree with me that there is a lot we don’t know and we should . . . wait for it . . .WAIT FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.
Thanks bettykath for the update. When somebody is trying too hard to make you believe something, that something is usually false and for the benefit of the proponent. Just something I learned in grade school.
Nick and Samantha – thanks. I needed a laugh, after all that frustration! Keep calm and find out what happened first is like speaking in tongues when you’re facing a virtual mob.
Looks to me like the black resentment is what got stroked first. The facts are not even in, and some people are praying for it to be a bad shooting. Which I figured it was, too, at first. But as more comes out, I am not so sure.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The attorney representing the store says that the store did not report a robbery.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119125/michael-brown-ferguson-reaction-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman?utm_content=buffer0328a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer “For a brief moment last week, it appeared as if the fatal shooting of Michael Brown wouldn’t divide the public across the same, predictable line that split the country between those who believed Trayvon Martin had been killed by a reckless vigilante, and those who treated George Zimmerman as an inspirational folk hero.
But that’s all changing now.
Some conservatives didn’t waste a moment before they began stoking white resentment. But their efforts were confounded by the early picture emerging out of Ferguson, Missouri: Michael Brown, 18, was unarmed. The police officer who killed Brown had confronted him for jaywalking. Brown was running for his life when he collapsed in a hail of gunfire. He was supposed to begin college this fall. The Ferguson police initially refused to release any information about the confrontation, aside from a tendentious version of events presumably provided by the officer involved, whose name they withheld for days. And when the community revolted, the Ferguson and St. Louis County police transformed into a paramilitary outfit determined to crush the demonstrations by, among other things, denying residents and the media their freedoms of speech and assembly.
Under those circumstances, only authoritarian dead-enders, and those inclined to believe that assemblages of black people are inherently dangerous, initially aligned with police against Brown, his family, and the black community in Ferguson.
But everything that’s happened since has helped to restore a familiar allegiance between resentful whites and “rule of law” conservatives.”
Karen,
I took issue with you’re attempt to change the subject from cop shoots unarmed Black teen to it doesn’t matter because there is more Black on Black crime. Then you say all you’re trying to do is get to the facts which you list in another post:
“Here are the facts:
1) A police officer shot an unarmed black 18 year old man 6 times from the front.
2) The victim was 6’4″ 300 lbs
3) It has been verified that there was indeed a scuffle inside the police vehicle, and the first shot was fired inside
4) The victim had just committed a strong arm robbery for some little cigars
I take issue with your “facts”.
1. according to the independent forensic pathologist, at least one of the shots could have hit Michael from the back. The rest of the shots were from the front. All of the shots except the last one to the head were survivable.
2. He was tall and large.
3. Verified? I accept asserted, not verified.
4. The rest of the surveillance video has been made available, but not from the police and it shows Michael paying for his cigars. The attorney for the store did NOT report a robbery.