During the coverage of the Ferguson protests, activist Joshua Williams, 19, became something of a celebrity as an advocate for peaceful protests. He was profiled by MSNBC and shown walking hand-in-hand with Cornel West. Williams was the counter image of the violent protesters who burned and looted Ferguson. However, this week, Williams was charged for setting fire to a convenience store during those very protests — a crime that police say he confessed to in a videotaped interview. It is sad development for a young man who garnered national attention for his work as a protest leader.
MSNBC featured Williams in a profile entitled “Portrait of a Protester” . In the piece, Williams describes how he also was angry and yelled at police. However, he insisted:
“I think we can be better if we can all come together. We might have to come together and show that we can work together and overthrow the system. But we have to come together as one and show them we can be peaceful, that we can do this. If not they’re going to just want us to act up so they can pull out their toys on us again.”
Police now say that he did more than that. They have introduced surveillance video and news footage showing Williams starting multiple fires inside and outside the Quick Trip convenience store as it was being looted by others.
He was charged with arson in the first degree and with second-degree burglary for entering the convenience store — both are felonies. He was also charged with misdemeanor stealing for taking a lighter, gum and cash from the store. They say that he has confessed to the crimes. However, protesters have demonstrated at the St. Louis County Justice Center over his arrest, insisting that charges be dropped.
With the reported videotape and confession, that is highly unlikely. What will be interesting is whether the court will view his statements advocacy peaceful protests as a positive community service (and thus a mitigating factor) or as an act of hypocrisy (and thus as aggravating factor) in sentencing.
In the profile by MSNBC, Williams speaks of his initial anger but says that he redirected that anger into peaceful and positive protest. He credits the intervention of Rev. Willis Johnson of the Wellspring Church as a turning point for him. Notably, that interview included an admission that could itself be viewed as assault but was not charged:
“I remember one night the police fired tear gas at us and I picked one of them up and threw it back at them. And the more we threw them back they just kept firing them back at us. It’s like it never stopped. I said to myself, we need another plan. This isn’t working.”
The arson however is far more serious. Indeed, with people still in the store when Williams allegedly torched it, there could have been additional charges brought by police.
Source: LA Times
Liberals have little empathy for the victims of crime unless it’s their family or the “downtrodden.” My eyes were opened to this phenomenon when I was in my mid 20’s working for the prosecutor’s office in KC. It was actually worse then than now. There were no victim advocate groups. No positions in the prosecutors office to help victims. I worked LONG days[rare for govt. workers] not only helping convict the shitbirds who robbed, raped, burned, victims. But, I tried to find resources to help the victims. There was an understaffed rape crisis center for rape victims, otherwise it was just scrambling to help. Maybe the Mayor of Poville needs to volunteer helping crime victims. He is short on empathy and LONG on boilerplate rhetoric,
Kudos to those ignoring the sad one jumping up and down looking for negative attention. She won’t cease, however.
It is always amusing to see that birds of a feather flock together.
Look how this “peaceful protester” followed in the footsteps of his hero.
Speaking as Dust Bunny Queen, an American Citizen (period), I think that allowing the victim or his representants [sic] to allow for a monetary settlement in lieu of a prison sentence is a perversion of justice, allowing the wealthy to commit crimes, buy off the victims and cheapens the value of life.
Serial offenders who are wealthy or who have good negotiating skills, get to skate and go on to repeat their crimes..
Just how much IS the life of your child, wife, husband, uncle, pet worth to you? Maybe it would be worth it to me to have my least favorite relative offed. After all, there could be some good moola in it. See…I am a good negotiator so I can get top dollar for the life of my least favorite relative. The guy who stole my guns….cool…..I’ll get some more money from him and never mind that next week he is robbing someone else. Who cares about them anyway….right?
Any man killed leaves his family without material support, what would happen if they are given $1000,000 to buy food, pay their mortgage and save for college?
Those types of settlements are made all the time—–.>BY the legal system and not as a one on one negotiation with the guilty party. The LEGAL system is the negotiator, not grieving people and certainly not the criminal him/herself. Anyway…..most crimes are committed by people who do not have the means to pay up, cough up a million dollars. So once again, it is the wealthy who get to pay they way out of trouble and the poor who suffer.
What do they gain if their victimizer spends 20 years in prison?
Justice. Satisfaction 🙂 Peace of mind.
You were the one who brought religion into this discussion by wondering where the Christian Hearts are and talking about the “Prophet” and indicating that “the” religion shapes the laws. IMO….religion has should have nothing to do with the secular laws of a country…..especially a country like ours which has such a wide variety of religious sects. They are two completely different things.
Po,
Dorian Johnson
http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=4&verse=112
Inga
I do, a great deal.
I have come to realize however that it is just a tool some use when they are unable to counter an argument.
Olly, that a fair question, I am just bringing it up to show DBQ that that conversation was merely on the sidelines of the bigger issue, not the issue itself.
Po, you must find it amusing when people call you an “anti Semite”.
Just to be clear Po; I would not have bothered to ask you about your faith had you not questioned others about their “Christian” response. I also never believed you were advocating for Sharia Law in the United States.
Bob
Glad to see you 🙂
DBQ: No. That is not a true statement. You are advocating that the criminal can PAY his her way out of serving time for the crime. PAYING for crimes. Bribery and a system where the rich can get off and the poor have to serve time.
———————————–
DBQ, let’s take a step back and define the terms of our debate. right now, I fear you are attacking on two fronts when I am actually only battling on one.
Let’s take Islam out of this. Olly asked what my faith says and I told him. Seems like you are using that now to frame me as advocating shariah law for THIS nation, which I am not.
Speaking as Po, a Jewish Christian Atheist American, I think that allowing the victim or his representants to allow for a monetary settlement in lieu of a prison sentence would be welcome in my book.
If the person is wealthy enough to find a way to avoid a prison sentence, he would. The system is already geared towards enabling those who can afford it to avoid a prison sentence. Money speaks in every single case, from how one is treated, how much bail is set and how great of a team of lawyers one can afford.
Do you doubt OJ would have escaped prison were he wealthy?
The fact that one offers to pay his way out of prison may be a bribe, but how is that bad? You, the victim, has a say in whether you accept or not. You can say yes or no. If yes, the person gets a break and you get a monetary reward, if not, justice keeps moving.
Would your family live a better life with the blood money or without?
Any man killed leaves his family without material support, what would happen if they are given $1000,000 to buy food, pay their mortgage and save for college? What do they gain if their victimizer spends 20 years in prison?
Or would you rather take the pleasure of watching the blood drip, drip, and you take comfort in getting back ounce of pain for ounce of pain?
Statistics show that violence is down, racism is down, police brutality and abuse of power is down. However, the media is up. At no time in history can something happen and garner this much attention. I grew up over the past 67 years in Canada, France, and the US and in all these countries civil rights are stronger, police are more accountable, and violence is reduced.
The media is like a parasite that lives on any event that is out of the ordinary. This blog is a mild example but an example never the less. Sometimes it’s dog bites man and sometimes it’s man bites dog. On top of that the media is lightning quick; it is staffed by any one with a cell phone camera. The Rodney King beating videotaped was an extraordinary event at the time. Now fifty motorists would have stopped and whipped out their iPhones.
However, anger hasn’t changed much. Instead of focusing their anger at the appropriate people and institutions these self styled saviors of our society attack innocent and helpless bystanders. After the Rodney King event the thugs burned Korea Town, WTF, and robbed banks in Palos Verdes.
Throughout history there has always been a ‘mob’. With today’s media it takes less than nothing to get it going. The Fergusen event was totally understandable. The Garner event was not. The choking of the guy selling ‘loosies’ with three other cops to assist was nothing more than abuse of power. The cop looked like he was on steroids. There was no need. The violence should be refined and focused on the institution that exonerated the cop that killed the cigarette seller, not on convenience stores.
There is a distance between the anger and the event.
Po,
Let’s bring religion into it
Exodus 23
“You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.”
And tell us Po, about the “righteous” that joined with Dorian Johnson in bearing false witness upon Darren Wilson.
Po: “Reported and alleged…yet the finger pointers pounce with glee…”
Po,
Really? How’s this Po?
“Hands up”
and the reply to Dorian Johnson
HOW MANY?
Johnson lied through his teeth; inciting nationwide anti-cop hysteria and you defend an arsonist?
You’re out of your mind.
There’s a bit of a theme today:
Brian Barker, cop turned thief.
Joshua Williams, peaceful protester turned arsonist-thief.
Forgiveness must needs be separate from criminal law proceedings, lest it corrupt the process, as DBQ notes.
Justice must be blind, or it causes injustice.
Forgiveness cannot be purchased in any event.
That’s is bribery, not forgiveness.
The only thing I am advocating is more forgiveness in our judicial system, which if you pay attention, is already established in it.
What are attenuating circumstances?
What is parole?
What is community service in lieu of jail term?
Whether that forgiveness happens prior to time service or during matters little, it is there.
No. That is not a true statement. You are advocating that the criminal can PAY his her way out of serving time for the crime. PAYING for crimes. Bribery and a system where the rich can get off and the poor have to serve time.
Forgiveness does exist in our legal system…… in the sense that each individual can (or should) receive consideration based on the severity of the crime, the intention and a whole lot of other factors that are decided by the LEGAL SYSTEM: judge and/or jury. This is why I am opposed to mandatory sentencing and the mandatory third strike laws. It does not allow for any leeway and is patently unfair.
However. THAT is not the same as allowing someone to pay off $$$$$$$$ or bribe the family of the injured or dead to get out of serving their time. This is just payola…. like the Mafia. The people with the money and the juice get to go free. This is not how our system is supposed to work, even though it often does. This IS how your disgusting and immoral system does work. It is a feature for you…..not a bug as it is in our system.
And regarding Shariah law…during the combined reign of the Prophet and his rightly guided califes
Who cares what happened under the reign of someone who YOU consider to be a Prophet? We do not live in a Muslim society and hopefully never will. I also don’t want to live under the Holy Roman Empire and see the Inquisition come back. Medieval mind sets. Both of them.
I, like Olly want to see us get back to OUR rule of law.
DBQ – the rich Chinese pay people to go to jail for them, then they ‘disappear’ for the amount of time they are supposed to be in jail.
“The law is the law”… But then when we break the law to use torture against POWs it’s no longer the “law”. I love how the “law” can change when some want it to. Just like Obama.
“Deck the Halls…….with Rows of Dead Cops”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5c2mWY8qpQ&w=560&h=315%5D
And regarding Shariah law…during the combined reign of the Prophet and his rightly guided califes, 2 hands were ever severed for theft, for shariah law offers first and foremost the opportunity for the criminal to repent, and this after he is found guilty on the strength of the testimony of 4 trustworthy witnesses.
So:
1- There is no doubt as to the guilt
2- There is option of repentance and making both the victim and the community whole.
Albert Woodfox has served his 42nd year in solitary confinement, where is the outrage at that hijacking of individual rights?
Considering the many languishing in prison right now, losing freedom and lives on the strength of dubious evidence…that sounds pretty humane to me.
The fleeing felon, Michael Brown, who held up the store in Ferguson and got shot to death was not from Ferguson. He went to Normandy High. The cop who shot him was not from Ferguson (he did not go to high school there) but was employed by Ferguson. Al Sharpton is not from Ferguson. The guy who pointed the gun at the Berkeley cop in Berkeley who got shot and killed was not from Ferguson. The arsonist Joshua Williams of MSNBC fame who torched the store in Berkeley was not from Ferguson.
Now I want to rile some feathers. Michael Brown, dead guy in Berkeley, Joshua Williams all rooted for da Bears and not the Rams. Al Sharpton is a Yankee fan. It figures. AL Qaeda Sharptone is alive and well in NYC. He does not hail from Ferguson. God only knows where he went to high school. Dogs in NYC are urged to go poop in Al’s yard. He needs a giant pile of poo.
And lest some idgit believes I’m advocating for Sharia Law, I’m not. My point is if we don’t get back to OUR rule of law then our rights are no better secured than anything else. Our glass house has many broken panes.