Ferguson, MO Shooting

[WuDrWu]

I'm surprised there is no discussion on this yet.

Any thoughts?

Today was an interesting day with the end of Gov. Nixon's career. The officer involved is in hiding but I suspect some information is going to come to light before too long that is going to change the playing field.

A young man is dead, and that is always tragic. I hope it wasn't a senseless killing.

[pinstripers]

Yes, a sensible killing is always better.

[pinstripers]

Seriously, the kid appears to have been a criminal and a punk, perhaps with gang ties. I fear that the shooting may not have been justified, however.

[Onegreatracer]

Yes, a sensible killing is always better.

Why don't we have a dislike button?

[pinstripers]

it's a George Carlin quote

[MoValley John]

it's a George Carlin quote

George Carlin is dead.

[ShockTalk]

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the other young man's description of events probably went out the window once it came out about the Brown robbery video. He probably knew about the incident, first hand or second, and was going to say whatever to make the officer look bad, true or falsely. His story would have made a little more sense if he had said Brown initially acted wrongly due to an earlier incident that day, but then stopped resisting/fleeing yet the officer shot him. Now it is too late for that. The crudeness of his initial account also makes less sense now given the apparent clean record of the officer and Brown's not so clean appearance.

The initial police version also has more validity now that Brown may have been nervous thinking he may be arrested for the heist. It gives a reason for Brown to try and get away and not be apprehended.

There is a reason a number of police departments are wearing video to clean up this sort of thing.

Lastly, I applaud the protesters who lined up in front of stores to prevent the weak of mind from showing that condition. The looting, burning, and vandalism can only hurt their community's cause if they are correct. Of course, the ones doing it could care less. Because of that, I have a very low threshold of toleration for it as should the leaders of the black community. I know it's not PC, but such behavior should be dealt with quickly and firmly.

[SHOXAAC]

George Carlin is dead.

A senseless death.

[SB Shock]

I'm surprised there is no discussion on this yet.

Any thoughts?

Today was an interesting day with the end of Gov. Nixon's career. The officer involved is in hiding but I suspect some information is going to come to light before too long that is going to change the playing field.

A young man is dead, and that is always tragic. I hope it wasn't a senseless killing.

idk, it kind to hard to comment on since the facts are really not known, but it does look like there are a lot of people using this for their own gain at the expense of the people of Ferguson (from the looters, to the politicians, to the activists).

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Gross misconduct by the Ferguson Police.

The "riots" IMO are completley at the hand and incited by the police department. While I fully believe there are people there who are up to no good I also firmly believe that 99% of the people there do not want anyone to get hurt or any sort of trouble. The news of looting is mis-reported to an extent. Twitter has been the best source of Media for any of this.

I know I am in the minority here on this board. But what is happening right now in St Louis is scary as ****.

I see @pinstripers: has already fell for the bait of Mike Brown being a bad guy. Im not saying he's a saint by any means. I dont know the guy. I only know what I seen on the video. And thats still not enough to call him a thug/punk or a gang member. The Ferguson police department waited an entire week to formulate a story and now the cop that murdered that kid is god knows where while the citizens of Ferguson Missouri are being held on nightly house arrest.

[WuDrWu]

I think it's unfair to call it "gross misconduct". I will agree I think it's been poorly handled. I would also agree it's a plurality that don't want anyone to get hurt or in trouble, but 99% I would think is a bit of an exaggeration. How has the news of looting been mis-reported exactly?

I'm not trying to bust your chops @Awesome Sauce Malone:. I honestly respect your opinion greatly. I am challenging some of what you said because what's unfair in this is that almost nobody is defending the policeman. Do you really think he shot this kid in cold blood out of hate or just to kill a black man?

A)He hasn't murdered anyone. Murder is a crime and not only has that not been proven, they haven't indicted yet, AND there is mounting evidence that it's very possible the shooting was not only provoked but justified.

B)I consider a person that wantonly takes what isn't his and does so with force and threat to be a bad guy. I'm sure others feel this way too.

C)I would suggest and wager that the people that need to know (ie the Ferguson police department) do in fact know where the officer is but since he hasn't been charged with anything yet, feel no need to tell you or anyone else. A smart thing since his life has been threatened (another thing that makes a person bad imho).

D)The media has essentially tried and convicted this officer without once considering the possibility of an alternate theory. As if executing innocent people in the streets is a thrice daily occurrence with police. Have you heard the report of the alleged friend of the wife of the officer? I have and all I can honestly say at this point is 1)she said Mr. Brown was coming at the officer when he fired his gun and 2) we now know everyone that said he was shot in the back with his hands up is a complete and total liar and should be thankful they weren't called to testify before a Grand Jury or they would be in jail for perjury. So far her account is 100% accurate and everything else we've been told is factual is 100% false.

E)No one in Ferguson is being held under house arrest. All they have to be is off of the streets (on foot only) from 12am to 5am. Perhaps it's a SLIGHT inconvenience, but mostly ONLY for those that want to cause trouble, and in that case, it's an effective strategy. The people in Ferguson that DON'T want to cause trouble, riot or loot (and trust me, there ARE some people like that) have rights too....and those rights include the right to live a peaceful existence and not be bothered by dangerous and troublesome people as well as loud noises at night. Without checking the local statutes for noise control, I'd be willing to wager that the police have every cause to enforce the curfew starting at around 10pm or even earlier. That it's just at midnight is being VERY accommodating to the troublemakers, if you ask me.

[WuDrWu]

Another report that's surfaced (admittedly NOT corroborated yet) is that officer Wilson was treated at a hospital for injuries to his head. If true (and it will be easy to prove or disprove) it's highly unlikely those wounds were self inflicted, giving even more credibility to his accounting. We know Mr. Brown's accounting of him being shot in the back is lie. He isn't to be believed at this point, imho.

Again, what we know so far is that multiple and numerous eye witness reports of Mr. Brown being shot in the back are untrue. I don't think it's stretch to start tilting the arrow in the other direction at this point. And let me add, if the facts support that the officer killed this kid without some of the things I've speculated happened, or that he killed this young man out of hate or otherwise, I'll be right at the front demanding he be held accountable. There is no place for that kind of person in the police or anywhere, period.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Im speaking primarily about last night. After being told repeatedly no tear gas was to be used people broke into Mcdonalds to grab milk which was used to help fight the effects of tear gas.

What evidence shows that it was justified? The only story we have of the supposed shooter is from "a friend" And it comes out a week after the fact. If this was you or I we would be held in a jail with bail granted :"usually" and some sort of statement been given on "facts of the case' The fact is the officer only made contact with Mike Brown because he was walking in the middle of the street. A residential street which is common on my block which I am sure is common on yours.

Ive seen the video in the convienance store. i do agree that it does not look well. I dont know what was said during the heat of the moment as there is no audio. You know what 've stolen before and that doesnt make me a bad guy. Again I agree the tape that was released does not help Mike Brown in any way. But its till no reason to shoot him 6 times.

Im not sure what media youre watching (sorry thats a joke I know what you're watching) but I havent seen anyone trying the officer other than they want to see him brought into custody or know facts about the investigation. All we are seeing and all we know right now is darren wilson is the officer involved and that he is has left the area. Smart move yes. But again if this is you and I we would be held in custody or at least mandated to stay.

I have not read anything that states he was shot in the back. None. The Ferguson Police department has to be the worse police force in the world. In most cases (since there were 2 people at the store) both would be tried for "robbing" the store. By all accounts that kid hasnt even talked to the police. Theres alot going on that doesnt make since.

There are reports of people being pulled off their porches and arrested on Saturday evening. There are a small group of people causing trouble i do agree on that. But the overall majority are not.The FPD needs to have some sort of accountability for their actions. Watch some of the live streams tonight Doc. Specifically the one on Vice's youtube channel. Pretty good stuff.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

And the actual shooting aside, I guess my biggest beef is the aftermath.

The police were arresting journalists for doing their job WTF.

[Kung Wu]

I have no opinion on this situation what-so-ever. But there is a horrific video circulating the Internet from a few years back that law enforcement agencies all over the country use.

I honestly don't ever want to see it again, and I don't recommend you guys go hunting for it. It's a video, recorded by the cam of a police car, where an officer is making a routine traffic stop (for speeding). The driver he is pulling over is white and the officer is white -- so there is no racial element to it. The officer approaches the vehicle as one normally would and the driver exits the vehicle and seems okay. He puts his hands in his pockets though so the officer instructs him to place his hands in clear view. The driver suddenly gets belligerent as hell, challenging the officer to shoot him. The officer pulls his weapon, but the guy is unarmed so of course he doesn't shoot him -- even when the guy acts like he's going to lunge at him once or twice. [It's at this point I would have dusted the guy, even unarmed.] However, the officer does not shoot him, and the driver runs over to his truck and grabs an assault rifle. The officer runs back to his car for cover but he is hit [now off camera]. He starts screaming and pleads for the guy to stop [this is the part that haunts], but the guy runs over and finishes him off.

The officer was 22 years old, had one infant son, and a daughter that was born after his death.

That's what cops are up against. And if they are inexperienced or hesitate it can have fatal consequences.

On the flip side, the Ozarks of Missouri has a much higher element of racist white bastards than I am accustomed to. I have no idea if that racism extends all the way up to St Louis, but there is an openly bigoted attitude amongst white locals in the Ozarks which make me -- a white guy -- feel very uncomfortable. I can only imagine how a minority would feel in that area. Now I am not talking about all the tourists at the lakes or in Branson. Most of those people are not Ozark locals. I'm talking when you get off the path just slightly from the tourist locations -- BAM. Welcome to America circa 1964. It's like they didn't get the memo that the rest of the country has moved on.

I think I'll wait until all the facts are out to make a decision.