Ferguson?

[6Rings]

Maybe it is just me, but I find nothing unusual about an 18 year old kid flipping off the camera. I suppose nearly everyone has done it at some point. Probably.

It is not just you..

 

[Yinzerlyn]

We will find out the officers name today.

And I don't think that is going to make anything better.

 

[6Rings]

I don't know what happened here, either.

I do know this, though. Black people are getting shot in places like Chicago at an alarming rate everyday, with no protests whatsoever. Death is death. Does it only matter if a white guy or a white cop pulls the trigger?

I agree, but in those cases, the cops are more than willing to lock up the perpetrators. When you have a situation where the shooting is questionable, then I think that is why you see the outrage. Especially when it is cops. I do not care what color the cop is. Many of them are out of control.

 

[EdReed4Prez]

I axgree, but in those cases, the cops are more than willing to lock up the perpetrators. When you have a situation where shooting is questionable, then I think that is why you see the outrage. Especially when it is cops. I do not care what color the cop is. Many of them are out of control.

That's absolutely true. This case highlights 2 very real problems in America IMO. The overstepping of authority from over equipped police, and the outright refusal of black community leaders to address the violent, child like responses of the black community. Those issues won't be the main drumbeat though, it'll be white kills black.

 

[hamster]

I believe that it is prudent to await the revealing of evidence, and a trial, before I pass judgement.......or burn down my community.
Also, if you burn down your community, don't cry racism when businesses refuse to locate there.

 

[IndySteel]

I, for one, feel that he looks like a fine young gentleman, an upstanding squeaky clean citizen and a productive member of society.

 

[NCSteelerfan]

Maybe it is just me, but I find nothing unusual about an 18 year old kid flipping off the camera. I suppose nearly everyone has done it at some point. Probably.

I still do ................

 

[Rod Farva]

Where I grew up, it would be gross disrespect for a cop to approach anyone in a car and say " Get the **** out of the street". We do not put up with that kind of **** in SC. What other lie could a cop give for shooting a teen running away from him. He had to say that the teen went for his gun.. How many 18 year olds go around grabbing at cop's gun over jay-walking? The kid was executed. After realizing that he could not outrun the cop's bullets, the kid stops, turns around, raises his hands in the air, only to be shot several more times. Everyone that knows that kid(even his teachers) say he was a gentle giant that never caused any problems. There is NO reason to kill anyone running away from you..

First of all, you are right. I do not know what happened "That Night", because it happened during the day in broad daylight. There have been four witnesses, one who just happened to be in the neighborhood picking up an EMPLOYEE. They all say the same thing. The cop shot the teen while the teen was trying to pull away from him. THEY ALL saw the teen run approximately 30 feet away when his body jerked in response to being shot from behind. THEY ALL witnessed the teen turn around, raise his arms and shout "Don't Shoot". The teen was then shot several more times. THESE ARE WITNESSES. I was not there, but I am no fool either. He shot the teen, YES approximately 30 feet away. The fact that I know all this and you don't really shows who the one is that does not know what happened " That Night"...

You have taken the word of these alleged witnesses as gospel and are completely ignoring the accounts of those actually involved in the shooting. That is pre judgement which is where the word "prejudice" originates. I'm very pro law enforcement but have decided to not believe either account until the facts are all revealed. You "know" nothing, except that which you have decided to believe. Witnesses have been know to lie and to make mistakes, as have police. I just wish you, others who have prejudged ( and especially all those acting out in Ferguson) would at least wait until all the facts are proven (to the extent that they can be) and a court has rendered a decision before expending all this outrage.

We will find out the officers name today.

His name will come out eventually in any case, but to release it simply in the hope that it will pacify the mob is absolutely ****** up. It will serve no purpose other than to ruin and put at risk the life of someone who may or may not deserve it.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

I axgree, but in those cases, the cops are more than willing to lock up the perpetrators. When you have a situation where shooting is questionable, then I think that is why you see the outrage. Especially when it is cops. I do not care what color the cop is. Many of them are out of control.

Believe me, this I have a problem with, in a big way. As Ed has been so good to point out in several posts, the militarization of our police is just flat out scary. And it seems, over time, they as a general population are tending to be involved in more and more excessive power incidents. I have real problems with this. Until we know what happened and a court rules in Ferguson, though, I'll wait to pass judgment here.

If the officer in Ferguson committed a crime, then I condemn it just as soundly as the killing of the innocent man in Albuquerque NM. Both cases would then be murder.

But as was said before, death is death. Yet our nation will focus so heavily on this "white on black" crime as race-baiters like Al Sharpton and the MSM media rile up the country. When that white man was caught being murdered on film by cops there was no Al Sharpton outrage, there was no coverage and few seemed to even give a damn. That indifferent and selective "whatever" towards that man's life is of greater concern.

We either treat all of these as "Yeah, just another cop killing an innocent person" or we treat them all with outrage. I don't support valuing this man's life more than another, nor condemning the crime here (if there was one) more heavily than any other police-on-innocent crime.

 

[Lmob0621]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some sort of recording device on the cop car that captured this incident... I'm sure it would have been mentioned by now, but it would be nice.

 

[6Rings]

You have taken the word of these alleged witnesses as gospel and are completely ignoring the accounts of those actually involved in the shooting. That is pre judgement which is where the word "prejudice" originates. I'm very pro law enforcement but have decided to not believe either account until the facts are all revealed. You "know" nothing, except that which you have decided to believe. Witnesses have been know to lie and to make mistakes, as have police. I just wish you, others who have prejudged ( and especially all those acting out in Ferguson) would at least wait until all the facts are proven (to the extent that they can be) and a court has rendered a decision before expending all this outrage.



His name will come out eventually in any case, but to release it simply in the hope that it will pacify the mob is absolutely ****** up. It will serve no purpose other than to ruin and put at risk the life of someone who may or may not deserve it.

No one is lying about seeing the cop chase the kid firing his gun. I believe what all those people witnessed. You can wait, but the cop definitely did something wrong...I am sure that only the cop that did the shooting will have the only conflicting story..

 

[oneforthebus]

This officer has been on the force for 6 years and one day he just ups and decides to shoot a kid for no good reason? Gee, why do I think there is more to the story than that?

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

No one is lying about seeing the cop chase the kid firing his gun. I believe what all those people witnessed. You can wait, but the cop definitely did something wrong...I am sure that only the cop that did the shooting will have the only conflicting story..

Then you are pre-judging.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/us/missouri-ferguson-michael-brown-what-we-know/index.html

It's a case of he said, he said. The accounts of why a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday couldn't be more disparate.

One side says the teenager was surrendering, his hands in the air to show he was unarmed, when the officer opened fire. Authorities counter that Brown attacked the officer in his car and tried to take his gun.

 

[Lmob0621]

This officer has been on the force for 6 years and one day he just ups and decides to shoot a kid for no good reason? Gee, why do I think there is more to the story than that?

Because you are racist... you probably do not even like Obama... *sarcasm

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

This officer has been on the force for 6 years and one day he just ups and decides to shoot a kid for no good reason? Gee, why do I think there is more to the story than that?

Doesn't make sense to me either. Here is one eyewitness account:

Dorian Johnson, 22, told CNN that he and Brown were walking in the middle of the street when a white male officer pulled up and told them, "Get the f*** on the sidewalk." The young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from our destination, and we would shortly be out of the street," Johnson said.

The officer drove forward but stopped and backed up, almost hitting the pair, Johnson said.

"We were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted both off me and Big Mike's body and closed back on the officer," Johnson said.

Still in his car, the officer then grabbed Brown by his neck, Johnson said. Brown tried to pull away, but the officer kept pulling Brown toward him, he said.

The officer drew his weapon, and "he said, 'I'll shoot you' or 'I'm going to shoot' " and almost instantaneously fired his weapon, hitting Brown, Johnson said.

Johnson and a bloodied Brown took off running, and Johnson hid behind the first car he saw, he said. The officer got out of his car.

"I saw the officer proceeding after my friend Big Mike with his gun drawn, and he fired a second shot and that struck my friend Big Mike," Johnson told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "And at that time, he turned around with his hands up, beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to tell him to stop shooting. But at that time, the officer firing several more shots into my friend, and he hit the ground and died."

Six years. And he just murders an innocent? The police have been known to use excessive force many times. But plain, flat out, cold murder with what appears to be no provocation? No, there's more here to the story.

 

[Superman]

IMO, the issue isn't the race of the cop at this point - though he's most likely white given the ratio of the police there.
the issue is that we are raised believing that cops are here to serve and protect. cops shouldn't be shooting someone who is unarmed unless that person has committed a violent crime or is about to. thus, this is a bit different than the daily murders in chicago where black kids kill other black kids with seemingly no fear of consequences. when the good reverends are paid to... er ... descend upon chicago and seek to halt these murders, then they might be taken seriously. the black on white violent crimes of murder and assault are merely "frowned upon".

 

[Lmob0621]

Then you are pre-judging.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/us/missouri-ferguson-michael-brown-what-we-know/index.html

Dorian Johnson, 22, told CNN that he and Brown were walking in the middle of the street when a white male officer pulled up and told them, "Get the f*** on the sidewalk." The young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from our destination, and we would shortly be out of the street," Johnson said.

That sounds like the way police officers talk... and I'm sure the young men asked him in for tea and crumpets afterwards... evil police officers... I just cannot fathom a police officer just gunning someone down on the street just to do it... I think the police officer story sounds a lot more realistic but I think the police officer should lose his job and face jail time for excessive force if he got out of the car and shot him multiple times after he was moving away from him....

 

[6Rings]

I can not fathom 18 year olds grabbing for cop's guns just like that. Who does that over jay-walking? Now they are saying that the cop had just responded to a call on a strong-arm-robbery in the area.

 

[IndySteel]

I would love it if the cop turns out to be black. This story would instantly go away. I wonder if he yelled "Stop, or I'll shoot!"

 

[Rod Farva]

It has now come to light that the shooting victim committed a strong arm robbery minutes before the incident in which the young angel roughed up a tiny store clerk on video. Before anyone jumps to the conclusion, no that doesn't mean he should die.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/1...n-fit-description-strong-arm-robbery-suspect/

 

[CoolieMan]

No one is lying about seeing the cop chase the kid firing his gun. I believe what all those people witnessed. You can wait, but the cop definitely did something wrong...I am sure that only the cop that did the shooting will have the only conflicting story..

YOU don't KNOW this to be true.

I will admit to not following this story very closely, but people lie about **** all the time.

If the facts come out to support this version then that cop should have a lot of fun in prison.....

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

One thing's for sure, evidence will come out one way or another. If a bullet was fired inside the car, we'll know...the bullet hole will be in the car. Can't imagine the police claiming this to be the case knowing full well this claim could easily be refuted by examining the car. That doesn't mean he had the reason to hunt this man down, but then again...we simply don't know what happened...unless of course we just take Dorian Johnson's word for it.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

It has now come to light that the shooting victim committed a strong arm robbery minutes before the incident in which the young angel roughed up a tiny store clerk on video. Before anyone jumps to the conclusion, no that doesn't mean he should die.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/1...n-fit-description-strong-arm-robbery-suspect/

Interesting indeed. Kind of a different story than Dorian Johnson's.

Police released still images and were planning to release video from the robbery, at a QuikTrip store in Ferguson. Jackson said Wilson, along with other officers, were called to the area after a 911 call reporting a "strong-arm robbery" at a nearby convenience store. He didn't immediately release details about the alleged robbery, saying more information would be released later.

Jackson provided few other details about Wilson at the news conference and did not take any questions. Jackson said Swisher Sweets cigars were stolen in the robbery.

Police have said Brown was shot after an officer encountered him and another man on the street. They say one of the men pushed the officer into his squad car, then physically assaulted him in the vehicle and struggled with the officer over the officer's weapon. At least one shot was fired inside the car before the struggle spilled onto the street, where Brown was shot multiple times, according to police.

The following don't seem plausible:

• Cop with squeaky clean record just up and shoots a black man without provocation
• Young black men without provocation attack white officer sitting harmlessly inside his police car

This does:

• Robbery occurs, victim fits the profile of the robber, cops called onto the scene, cops confront person who looks like the perp, a struggle ensues.

 

[SCSteeler4life]

I can not fathom 18 year olds grabning for cops guns just like that. Who does that over jay-walking. Now they are saying that the cop had just responded to a call on a strong-arm-robbery in the area.

He had just committed a robbery. Breaking story.

http://www.cnn.com/

 

[Steelerfan]

All this information leaking out is going to **** up the investigation. I want details as badly as the next person, but there are reasons they don't comment on ongoing investigations.