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–
patty, the videos are from different cameras and from different points of time. The first video was focused on the door as Mike was leaving the store. The second video was focused on the counter.
The security footage was obtained by the police dept. by warrant after the shooting. re:see link to store attorney story.
I watched the video posted in the comments by bettykath where it supposedly shows Brown paying for the cigars. For the life of me I don’t see anything that indicates he is paying for them. The most I can say is that you don’t see him when he leans over the counter so maybe he is paying for them at that time. Can someone enlighten me?
Also it was stated that the first video “was rather selectively produced” but I had seen this footage the first day the tape was released. The only difference is this version is zoomed in.
Charlton Stanley wrote: “CWO Jim Wright’s take on Ferguson is definitely worth a read.”
In what must be a ten-thousand word essay, Jim Wright drones on about the race card in virtually every single sentence, even using the F word, fully spelled out at one point, which is where he lost me. His avatar shows him wearing a big hat, which is probably compensation for lack of what’s under it.
I do not think the Ferguson case is all about race. Who doesn’t remember Kelly Thomas, the homeless, mentally ill male who was savagely beaten to death by Fullerton, CA, white police a couple of years ago? Thomas was white, and there was white protest and outrage that continues to this day, given the police got a free pass. The only reason Brian Williams did not set up camp in Fullerton, alongside the protesters, is because Thomas was white. If Thomas had been black, Williams would have been in Fullerton, no doubt about it.
This is what Ferguson is all about: “U.S. police forces have become increasingly militarized, and it’s showing in cities everywhere,” writes Norm Stamper, the former police chief of Seattle. “Everyday policing is characterized by a SWAT mentality, every other 911 call a military mission.”
Black people in Ferguson hate the police. White people in Ferguson hate the police. The only people who love the police are the apologists who benefit from public sector union donations to political campaigns. This is why we see Obama’s deafening silence. And why Brian Williams is out there deflecting attention away from this larger issue.
Just about everything that is wrong with America today has to do with runaway government spending, which has sucked opportunity away from not just blacks but the entire middle class, funneling trillions of tax dollars that benefit only corporations and stockholders.
Ferguson is less about racism, more about disdain for government, which has all but destroyed middle-class opportunity, civil rights and personal freedoms in our great nation. That so many do not see it this way, explains our divided nation.
Don Lemon and the CNN guys are falling for the mob mantra. The mob mantra is that things will quiet down and we will all be better off when the Grand Jury indicts the Police Officer and arrests him. This is mob justice. Do what the mob wants. A Grand Jury picked from folks in the Saint Louis County area and not just Ferguson, Jennings, North County suburbs, would be more fair and balanced than CNN or Fox News. This case, if it goes to trial, will come down to the credibility of the Police Officer on the stand. All this apCray about shooting him six times and whatnot and the guy was just a kid and mommie is crying in the front row, will probably be not only set aside but a jury may disdain some of the dirt thrown. Ferguson and St. Louis County have been smeared by the media. If they move the trial to some other state you will get a similar reaction by a jury. They know that the media is throwing rocks along with the Hands Up! crowd. A good attorney will perhaps suggest on voir dire, what if this was Your Home Town? I want to see the toxicology reports on Brown. No one on the news media is even thinking of asking for that.
The mob mantra: on reading the comments I see that it is having its effect. Well it is coming to a town near you!
http://www.people-press.org/2014/08/18/stark-racial-divisions-in-reactions-to-ferguson-police-shooting/ Stark racial divisions in Pew Poll on how the Ferguson police shooting is viewed. There are party differences ,also, with republicans having more confidence in the police.
Karen, jumping:
“And way to play the race card with the “us and them” comments.”
And that’s the conclusion to which you jumped. And it’s wrong, by the way.
Bring in a special prosecutor?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/background-of-prosecutor-in-ferguson-case-has-some-suspicious-of-bias/
“But some black leaders – including U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and state Sens. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and Jamilah Nasheed – have called on McCulloch to consent to a special prosecutor.
Nasheed started an online petition that has gotten about 25,000 signatures in four days seeking a special prosecutor.
“In the past, justice has not been achieved in these types of police shootings,” said Clay, who represents the area. “So I have no comfort with local-authority prosecution, the judicial system or even police conducting a thorough and conclusive investigation that delivers justice to the family of Michael Brown.”
“Simply put: he has a natural bias,” added Chappelle-Nadal. “My community doesn’t trust him.””
anonymous:
I live in CA. I saw the Rodney King riots that spilled into outside neighborhoods. I absolutely know with certainty what can happen when irresponsible people keep up the rhetoric like we’ve seen on this blog.
However, there is a faction that keeps arguing with the statement, “we need to wait for an investigation.”
How would you feel if this happened to you? If you were accused of some terrible crime, and there were mobs chanting in the street that they wanted you dead, and politicians were demanding you be arrested for murder before any of the multiple investigations going on concluded. And anyone arguing that you deserved due process and an independent investigation to get at the truth was met by repeated arguments and resistance.
Wouldn’t it be great?
And way to play the race card with the “us and them” comments.
Mespo:
“It should be independent when people feel this strongly about what happened and the objectiveness of the police is in question.” Finally, something I agree with. There should be an independent investigation, and, in fact, there are SEVERAL independent investigations going on right now.
So what do you keep fighting about? Several of us keep remarking that we need to wait for all the facts to come in before we go beyond simple conjecture, let the justice system work, but you keep pushing back. Any number of scenarios could end up to be the truth. What do you want, then?
Darren – thank you. That’s what I’m concerned about, too. Namely that the crowd is going to get so whipped up by people (like those here on this blog) who keep goading them, and by those looking to make some political bank, that in the end, the facts won’t satisfy them. Nothing will until this cop is dead, and it’s still possible he might be innocent of murder. He might have been justified, or he might not. Maybe he will deserve a murder conviction, but what if the true facts exonerate him, but the mob murders him anyway?
Karen S @ 8:48: “Yes, bettykath, all of us who are urging the mobs to remain calm while we wait for an independent investigation are very interested in hearing all the facts of what actually happened.”
“urging the mobs”
Loaded language. “Us” versus them language.
“Remain calm”…
Said from a comfortable place where people are rarely, if ever, harassed or killed by the police, in all likelihood.
bettykath:
“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?”
Yes, bettykath, all of us who are urging the mobs to remain calm while we wait for an independent investigation are very interested in hearing all the facts of what actually happened.
That should be really clear by this point.
Like myself, Darren has worked in the criminal justice system and understands how the process needs to work. The OJ trial changed everything and I can see the folks here who were transformed by that seminal event in our history.
Regarding the politics of this. Growing up in Hawaii and raised by white folk, our President has less of a connection to this than many white people who have worked in the inner city. Michelle grew up on the south side of Chicago and has some connection to this. Obama understood the Professor Gates incident from Gate’s perspective and put his foot in his mouth on that one. To his credit, Obama has pretty much stayed away from this incident except for a perfunctory comment or two.
CWO Jim Wright’s take on Ferguson is definitely worth a read. Chief Wright limits quotes from his stories, so take a digital journey to Palmer, AK to visit Stonekettle Station.
http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/08/pressure-cooker.html
I am glad we handle things differently in this neck of the woods. See blockquoted story below.
BTW, I agree with the policy of withholding the officer’s name until an investigation is complete. There is a matter of OPSEC (Operational Security), which is important on a number of levels, not the least of which is the safety and security of a suspect’s family. Even if an officer is guilty as sin, his/her spouse, kids and personal property need to be secure and safe.
As they say, a fish rots from the head down. Leadership and professionalism makes all the difference in the world. Here is how our local sheriff handles problem officers:
Presnell allegedly ‘went off’ on the inmate when he made inappropriate crude comments to a female officer.
Read the rest of the story in the Johnson City Press: Carter Co. jailer fired, inmate assault case to go to grand jury
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/119634/carter-co-jailer-fired-inmate-assault-case-to-go-to-grand-jury#ixzz3Aps1wkk6
Follow us: @JCPress on Twitter | JohnsonCityPress on Facebook
Jack:
Must make those people feel great that the agency who trained automatic weapons on them while peacefully assembled and who assaulted journalists and was dismissed by the governor for that tyranny is conducting part of the investigation. By the way both agencies are investigating. It was Ferguson police who released the video from the store. Hard to get that unless you’re investigating. Sr Louis county Chief Belmar already passed judgment on the case the day after the incident claiming the officer was assaulted. Who needs an autopsy? Some investigation. Btw Jack, you need to read more.
Darren:
Releasing the officer’s version of events made right after the fact won’t compromise the investigation. We need to know what he says occurred unfiltered by “modifications” made after his side hears what other witnesses say. You can see the defense of the officer has already begun with release of the store surveillance tape and the chief changing his story about the role the robbery played in the stop. This looks for all the world like CYA and that’s part of the reason the rioting has not stopped. The people in that neighborhood have no confidence in that investigation — and with good reason.
The Officer works for the Ferguson Police Department. The shooting is being investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department.
Of course, anybody who wants to weigh in can do so. It would help if they took the time to get up to speed on things like who is investigating before they complain about the investigation. Don’t you think?
Mark, I disagree.
It is almost never the case, or at least it should be, where an officer involved shooting’s details are released to the public before the investigation is complete. The records of this are not subject to public disclosure until the investigation is concluded. The reason for this is just the same as a criminal investigation. The integrity of the investigation can be compromised otherwise.
You wrote “This is for the peace of the neighborhood.” I sympathize but I also disagree. That statement is tantamount to sacrificing the due process right in order to affect an outside outcome. It is exactly akin to forgetting about the due process of a person accused of murder in order to preserve the public peace. When we start whittling away of due process rights to appease the masses we will risk having star chamber like courts or even arbitrary justice because the defendant is scorned by the public.
It is certainly a measure of justice in that even the most vilified person receive the same rights as one that is the favorite son of the powers to be.
I do agree that the officer’s agency should not be the one doing the officer involved shooting investigation. From where I come from it is standard procedure to do so and the prosecutor’s office reviews the findings of fact.
It is very easy to speculate as to what actually happened in this matter by having the only source of information be various news outlets. There are not enough facts out there to determine what had happened as far as the shooting went. Even with what has been released it is not complete enough to draw conclusions that are accurate. The news media is not gathering evidence in this case nor privy to all the information.
If the information and conclusion of facts are such that leads to probable cause to arrest the officer for a crime, well if it is murder there is no statute of limitations. Nothing is going to be lost in the time to conduct a proper investigation.
One particularly disturbing I saw was an interview with a local state legislator, I don’t remember her name but her constituency was the area of this city. She was demanding that the officer be arrested for murder. NO POLITICIAN has a right to demand that any citizen be arrested on their opinion only. That is the purview of law enforcement or the prosecutor/district attorney. It is clear that this rush to judgment has clouded so many minds it would be surprising if anyone receives justice in such an environment.
What Happens When Police Officers Wear Body Cameras
Use of force by police officers declined 60% in first year since introduction of cameras in Rialto, Calif.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/what-happens-when-police-officers-wear-body-cameras-1408320244
When downtown America is turned into Bagram, Afghanistan by the militarized police…