News The Michael Brown shooting

[Spang]

What Darren Wilson's face looked like after he murdered Michael Brown:

Corporate media is calling it an injury.

source

 

[Calliegirl]

I find it odd that there isn't any video of the shooting. A number of people have said they, as well as others, witnessed it, yet not a single person has come forward with any video. In this day and age it's next to impossible to not get taped. People argue over a parking space and it ends up on Youtube. There's a fight over the last can opener at a Black Friday sale, it ends up on Youtube. Pretty much everyone has cell phones with video taping capabilities, even the poorest people. I just find it very hard to believe that of all the people who claim to have witnessed it, not a single one took any video or pictures.

 

[Spang]

A video wouldn't have made much of a difference. Here's a brief history of cops committing violence against Black people, some of which were caught on video, who were let off the hook:

These high profile cases represent only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cases where racist police violence has not been subjected to equal justice under the law.

Recently, the Justice Department declined to prosecute Little Rock, Arkansas, officers who shot and killed Eugene Ellison, an elderly African American man who was walking out of his home with a cane in his hand, while there have been documented reports of unarmed black men recently being shot down by the police in Chicago; Houston; San Antonio; Beaver Creek, Ohio; and Sarasota, Florida.

 

[rainforests1]

A video wouldn't have made much of a difference. Here's a brief history of cops committing violence against Black people, some of which were caught on video, who were let off the hook:

Rodney King - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Your article mentions Rodney King(guilty of resisting arrest and DUI, among other crimes). It's possible some of the other cases are similar.

 

[Spang]

Cops are not allowed to beat the **** out of you.

 

[shyvas]

What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson - CNN.com

 

[Spang]

"Can law enforcement be held accountable in a justice system that’s set up to support their actions?" (an infographic)

Spoiler

 

[Blobbenstein]

I think if you want change then you have to be completely certain that in any given case the police officer behaved incorrectly. If you try to push an agenda where the cop was consistent and in the right, then you are basically going to cripple your cause.

Not that I know much about this case, but cops have a right to defend themselves, I would have thought.

 

[Spang]

These cops are not defending themselves, they are killing Black people. The system is set up in a way that allows cops to kill Black people without consequence, largely because too many people, especially people in power, simply do not value Black life.

 

[Blobbenstein]

maybe in a lot of cases, but are you sure about this case?

 

[Blobbenstein]

wouldn't it be consistent if the right-wing press highlighted a case where the cop was in the right, got everyone protesting, and basically broke the black cause.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I mean the corporate media are less likely to highlight a case where the cop was in the wrong, so it's a win win for them. Only highlight cases where the cop was in the right, and then protesters have to use these cases to protest. And as they are in the wrong, in the individual case, the protesters are flogging a dead horse....

I believe in an emergent media, that plays out a kind of a narrative of good v evil.....sometimes things work out for the dark side, sometimes the good side, but considering that the media is mainly in the hands of the rich, then most often it is the dark side that wins....just emergently...not necessarily conspiratorially.

 

[Clueless Git]

wouldn't it be consistent if the right-wing press highlighted a case where the cop was in the right, got everyone protesting, and basically broke the black cause.

I have a horrible feeling you may be onto something there, Blobbers.

This one seems as clear as day to me.

Policeman apprehends a large aggressive man who has just tried to perpetrate a violent crime.

Policeman says "Stop or I shoot".

Guy ignores condition by which he can avoid getting shot and so get shot he does.

If you wanted to make that purely a racial issue to stir up racial trouble you couldn't make better stuff up.

On the other hand ... I don't understand why the policeman didn't just shoot the guy in the leg.

 

[Blobbenstein]

On the other hand ... I don't understand why the policeman didn't just shoot the guy in the leg.

maybe this is partly the reason:

 

[Clueless Git]

Cops are not allowed to beat the **** out of you.

Are they not?

I'm off to rob the local off-licence then.

 

[ledboots]

In this case, it seems there was an understandable rush to judgment on both sides. I can see the grand jury coming to the conclusion that it did, but the defense is not allowed to rebut, so to me, it doesn't seem balanced.

In my lifetime, I have been amazed at the proliferation in the sheer numbers of law enforcement. It seems there is a cop or deputy on every steret at every hour. Plus spying video cameras.

Both of my adult offspring have several stories of being pulled over and let go right away, while their non-white friends in the car sat there open-mouthed like:That is it? They aren't making you get out or anything? "Rly, Sorry miss, you have a nice night!?!"

And I have been amazed at people being arrested at their homes for unpaid traffic violation stuff. I feel that racism, and what it means, is not uncommon amongst law enforcement.

 

[rainforests1]

Church attended by Michael Brown's family destroyed during Monday night's protests | Daily Mail Online
A church was burned down among other things. Regardless of who did it, there should be big punishment for this kind of act.

On the other hand ... I don't understand why the policeman didn't just shoot the guy in the leg.

Even the CNN article posted earlier says that much evidence supports Wilson's claims. If he felt his life was in danger, he may not have been thinking the way a normal person would.

 

[Spang]

"If you value some people's property more than the life of a Black child, we're not on the same team."

 

[Second Summer]

I don't know the details of what happened very well in this case, and it seems there were some conflicting accounts. In any case, perhaps the larger issue here is a lack of trust in particular between the black population and the police forces. Maybe one could also say to some extent, generally speaking, there is a lack of trust between blacks and whites (in the US)?

 

[Clueless Git]

Even the CNN article posted earlier says that much evidence supports Wilson's claims. If he felt his life was in danger, he may not have been thinking the way a normal person would.

That would kinda mean that he was thinking in pretty much the way a normal person would if their own life were being threatened.