Posted on 11/26/2014 10:10:00 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
What to write? What to write? I spent all day yesterday trying to think of the right way to respond to the injustices of Ferguson. Anyone unfortunate enough to get within listening distance heard some pretty brutal words -- the kind of words which, if published, might have gotten me into trouble.
The following may seem intemperate. Those around me have heard worse.
While downtown Baltimore yesterday, I talked to an older black guy who derided the rioters in Ferguson. He recalled the riots of April 1968, which destroyed a sector of this city which has never been properly rebuilt. (One of those areas surrounds the cemetery where the fetid cadaver of Allen Dulles lies not far away from the corpse of John Wilkes Booth.) "Rioting never solves anything," he said. Maybe he was right, but I still didn't want to hear it.
Some thoughts:
1. White people -- on teevee and elsewhere -- keep repeating that Michael Brown "charged" the officer's car. McCulloch clearly stated that there was conflicting testimony on this score. The fact that so many white people use that term unthinkingly proves their racism.
I'm sorry, but the R word is justified in this instance. You cannot presume from the outset a point of questioned testimony that should have been determined at trial. Racists consider testimony "credible" only when it buttresses their preconcieved notions -- and we have to ask ourselves why these racist pundits fear cross-examination of those whose testimony fits their preferred narrative.
2. A man in a car (especially a heavy vehicle like police cruiser) never -- NEVER -- has anything to fear from a single unarmed individual. That's what the gas pedal is for.
Well, to be fair: If the car is out of gas or trapped between two other cars, the driver may have reason to fear. But Officer Wilson was not in that situation. He could have scooted out of the way and, if need be, called for back-up.
3. McCulloch kept repeating that the Grand Jury made its decision based on physical evidence. It is clear now that this decision was based primarily on Darren Wilson's testimony.
4. McCulloch could have gotten an indictment if he wanted one. As the commonly-heard saying has it, a DA can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. A grand jury was convened purely to allow McCulloch to blame others for his decision.
5. As a reader of this blog put it: "Differing accounts of what happened huh? That's USUALLY why they have trials." Those twelve words sum up this entire post. If we allowed trials to occur only when all witnesses agree, we'd have a lot fewer trials.
6. Wilson's testimony seems to have been a prime example of what the cops in L.A. call "testi-lying." See video above.
7. Why should we trust what the police call "physical evidence"? Why should we trust their testimony? The cops -- in that town and in other towns -- have been running a racket, using poor working people as a cash register. Check out the revealing words about forfeiture in Ferguson's budget (pdf)). And check out this piece. Even the NYT has published an uncharacteristically hip article.
At trial, a clever attorney could have reminded the jury of the many things the cops have done to earn the community's mistrust and hatred.
Frankly, that's the kind of spectacle I long to see.
I would love to see juries automatically presume that the cops are lying in every single case. Not one syllable cops say should be trusted. If a cop says "He wore a blue jacket," presume that the jacket was some other color -- even if you have a photo proving that the jacket was blue.
More than that. Jurors and other citizens should do everything possible to make the lives of cops miserable. A cop's kid should be spat on every single day he goes to school. Cops should wake up to see paint buckets emptied on their cars. Why? Here's why. And here's why.
Keep treating cops like garbage until cops stop acting like garbage. And a hearty {EXPLETIVE} YOU to any thuggish cop who boo-hoo-hoos about being hated by the very people he is trying to serve when he's out there every day putting his life on the line yada yada yada. Cops are hated for good reason, as you can see here.
For the average citizen, the police are worse than the mafia. Until the cops stop functioning as a hyper-mafia, they should be treated the same way the heroic Vietnamese treated French and American soldiers.
I used to have a great respect for policemen. Seriously. I was taught from an early age to revere those guys, and I would love nothing more than to return to that attitude. But damn it, there have been too many stories like this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one.
Cops need to be taught a lesson, and that lesson is this: Actions have consequences. If cops have become robbers -- as indeed they have -- well, they chose that course, and now they must take the consequences.
8. Let's not blame "outside agitators" for the Ferguson riot. Come on: Nobody takes the Revolutionary Communist Party seriously. They're clowns. Frankly, I've always thought that Bob Avakian worked for the feds. The RCP was Ronald Reagan's best recruiting tool on the UCLA campus, back when I was a student there. As for Al Sharpton: He definitely worked for Uncle.
The real "outside agitators" in Ferguson are the cops. The robbing, thieving, ultra-corrupt cops.
9. If a guy like McCulloch recommends peaceful protest -- well, what more evidence do you need? Obviously, peaceful protest is useless. Peaceful protest is what the Establishment wants you to do. (Yeah, I said it: The Establishment. Time for that useful term to come back into circulation.) The Establishment considers protest to be part of the system -- a way for the oppressed to blow off steam.
No.
Do not waste your time with protest. Rebel.
Each of you will have to work out the specifics of how to rebel, although the words written above may suggest an idea or two. But the following two pieces of advice may be of some help.
First, history tells us that the most effective forms of rebellion are planned events, done in cold blood.
Second, being a rebel is like being a boxer: You don't win if you hurt yourself. You have to hurt the other guy.
He’s totally right. This should happen. That way no one will be a police officer and no one can protect the author from me.
My gawd, the stupid is strong in this one.
“Do not waste your time with protest. Rebel.”
Bring it on punk. I’m sick of armchair revolutionaries who are all talk. Get out there on the streets and start slitting throats so that me and the rest of the law-abiding citizens can have an open season on your scrawny, perpetually offended backside.
My sentiments exactly.
Let’s get it over with, because at this point, it is inevitable.
The Two Americas cannot co-exist anymore. We no longer agree on a common foundation. We have nothing in common.
One ideology seeks to subjugate, the other to be left alone.
And they have no intention of leaving us alone.
I feel left out. I don’t have stories of Police oppressing my friends, neighbors, and I. Just can’t seem to recall a time when I felt I needed to buy a ‘Stop Killing Us’ t-shirt. Why is my experience so different?
Is it because I don’t go around committing crimes?
Could it be that I spend my time trying to be a productive member of
society?
Would being respectful and appreciative of local law enforcement be the reason?
Nope, apparently it’s because I’m white. Clearly, the choices I make in life have nothing to do with it
Yep, what people like him don’t understand is that once he opens that door, we are going to TAKE IT ALL THE WAY until it is finished.
Actually he goes too far, but some of what he says is true. But...
I don’t believe racism was involved here... The outcome would have been the same regardless of race. If a white person had assaulted a cop this way, they would be dead too. so the racism part is pure B.S.
However the cop could have reacted differently and the outcome would have been better all around. Cops not only this one but cops all over the country have a warrior mentally. It’s not necessary and it’s not helpful.
How could it have ended better? Consider this...
The perp. assaulted the cop through the open driver’s side window and than ran. The cop certainly had reason to fear for his life during the assault and if he had shot him dead at that point that would be fine.
If the cop had stayed in his vehicle and radioed for backup the hoodlum would be alive probably and facing 10 years in the pen for assaulting the cop (and robbing the store). It’s not like they wouldn’t have got him, he had no where to hide he would stand out in a crowd.
That’s not what happened though... Our brave young warrior with his service revolver got out of the car in hot pursuit. At that point somebody was going to die, and it wasn’t going to be the cop.
Wouldn’t it have been a better outcome had the cop just called in for backup? Better for the cop, better for the thug and better for the community? Of course it would, but that wasn’t an option with the mindset of police today. They cant loose a battle even if it means it costs them the war.
That needs to change... Like I said, race really wasn’t involved here. The outcome would have been the same had the perp been white or brown or yellow.
I say this, in an information age when cell phones are out imediatley taking videos on anything and everything that happeneds in real time, WHY OH WHY are there not any cell phone videos in this situtation? Could it be that there are videos but it shows the unarmed child in a bad light? possibly reaching in to retrieve the officers gun? If so, What happeneds when you try to take an officers gun? I say there are vids on this happening in real time but it shows the gentle giant in a bad way so they remain in their cell phones because it doesnot reflect thier agenda
There's the summation of all your problems, Joe. 46 years on and you folks didn't manage to rebuild your own surroundings. All that time, waiting for someone other than yourselves to make that happen.
Get yourself to Google Pics and look at the heaps of rubble German cities were in 1945. Then look up pictures from 1950, 1960, 1970...
Your bookmarks dropdown menu must be the biggest collection of bullsh!t, looney-tune, liberal websites on the face of the planet.
He called for back up. Back up showed up a few minutes later, by which time, the whole thing was finished.
I'm sorry, but it's not. If you want to call it something, it would be policeism; I tend to put more weight on the testimony of a police officer with an excellent record than the testimony of a perjurer, meaning the testimony of Dorian Johnson (cf. here).
And one more thing...
McCulloch kept repeating that the Grand Jury made its decision based on physical evidence. It is clear now that this decision was based primarily on Darren Wilson's testimony.
That was because Officer Wilson's testimony matched the physical evidence, and while police officers can lie, the evidence cannot lie.
And I would believe the same if the officer were black with an excellent record, and the opposing witness were a white perjurer (William Jefferson Clinton comes to mind, but I digress).
Perhaps our friend should read the suggestions of 100 BLACKS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO CARE (capitals theirs, not mine).
Certainly the author has the same opportunity to rebel as he cites for everyone else. What do you want to bet that he wants only to COMMENT on the rebellion of OTHERS?
Totally ridiculous and totally stupid.
Having said that, I sent this lunatic a suggestion. Anytime a town has more than 50% black population, disband the police department. Let them police themselves. I’m waiting to hear back.
“Wouldn’t it have been a better outcome had the cop just called in for backup?”
Evidently you don’t believe in reading the evidence of the grand jury before you engage in prejudicial assumptions and accusations, because the evidence states unequivocally that Officer Darren Wilson had already called for backup. The radio call logs and other evidence also reveal how there was already a problem with the police and police dispatcher having more calls for police assistance than there were police units available to answer those calls at the time. So, Officer Darren Wilson was obligated to determine who these suspects were and what they were doing in the middle of the street where they were obstructing the traffic, before Michael Brown assaulted police officer Darren Wilson as he was seated in his Tahoe police vehicle.
Given the fact the suspect, Michael Brown, had just committed an assault and battery upon a police officer with shots fired in an attempted murder of that police officer and was also a suspect in the robbery of the convenience-liquor store; Officer Darren Wilson no longer had any discretion to allow the suspect to leave the scene of the crime. Had Officer Darren Wilson allowed the suspect, Michael Brown, to leave the scene of the crime and Brown injured or killed another person, Officer Darren Wilson would have been responsible for not forestalling Michael Brown’s violence against that innocent victim.
Furthermore, you fail to note how a later altercation between law enforcement officers versus Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson could just as well have resulted in the deaths of Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson. Given how Michael Brown is the stepson of a Bloods gang member, you have no way of knowing whether or not any law enforcement officers and/or innocent bystanders could have been injured or killed by Michael Brown and/or gang members armed with firearms in a later encounter. Today’s news reports two FBI Special Agents were shot and injured while assisting Universal City police to serve an arrest warrant only 5 miles away from last night’s violent rioting in Ferguson. So far as you know, Officer Darren Wilson may have saved innocent lives by following normal police procedure and apprehending the robbery suspect before the suspect and suspect’s gang member associates could take more lethal action against law enforcement and the pulic in general.
“Given the fact the suspect, Michael Brown, had just committed an assault and battery upon a police officer with shots fired in an attempted murder of that police officer and was also a suspect in the robbery of the convenience-liquor store; Officer Darren Wilson no longer had any discretion to allow the suspect to leave the scene of the crime. “
We all know about the assault, Wilson also was aware when he got out of the vehicle that he was incapable of taking him alive due to the perps size. It would have been more prudent to wait the few minutes until the backup arrived, and probably nobody would have gotten killed and the city wouldn’t have been torched. And the thug would be in jail awaiting trial.
That would have been the right thing to do. And it would have ended better. Much better... As Kenny Rogers said:
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em.
Know when to walk away, Know when to run”
Like I said before, Wilson won the battle and lost the war. And it was because of the culture within the PD. Police are taught they have to win every battle, and that’s not the way the world works.
We don’t pay the police to race away from felons...we pay them to apprehend felons!!!
“Like I said before,” not arresting Michael Brown then and there would have endangered the life and limb of more than just Michael brown and Officer Darren Wilson, so Officer Darren Wilson’s actions were the correct actions to take and in accordance with normal police procedures. The fact that Michael Brown chose to engage in grave felonies which repeatedly put his own life at risk and the lives of Officer Darren Wilson and other people is Michael Brown’s responsibility and Dorian Johnson’s responsibility.
“We all know about the assault, Wilson also was aware when he got out of the vehicle that he was incapable of taking him alive due to the perps size.”
On the contrary, Officer Wilson “was aware when he got out of the vehicle that he was [capable] of taking him alive [despite] the perps size”, if and when Michael Brown complied with orders to submit to an arrest. Officer Wilson was also aware Michael Brown could potentially use his “perp’s size” to carjack and innocent victim to escape the scene of the crime or otherwise risk the life and limb of other people if he were not immediately arrested. Officer Wilson made the right choice, and Michael Brown made all the wrong choices, just like his Bloods gang member stepfather.
“On the contrary, Officer Wilson “was aware when he got out of the vehicle that he was [capable] of taking him alive [despite] the perps size”, if and when Michael Brown complied with orders to submit to an arrest.
On the contrary my butt... It was clear to Officer Wilson or anyone else with a brain that he would NOT comply.
A steaming pile of crap. Police shoot way more white perps than black. I think I read somewhere black males between the age of 18 thru 35 comprise 1.5% of the population and commit over 50 % of violent crime.
Here is a Cop who’s dog saved his life. You will notice the Perp is white and I can’t tell what the little troll with the pipe who is about to slug the Cop is. Personally I don’t think the Cop gives a rat’s ass what color they are and the dog don’t care either. That Cop owes his life to that dog and he better take him out for a T-bone tonight.
There is not enough money in the world you could pay me to be a Police Officer. He was one second from dead.
Hero police dog saves his cop’s life: http://youtu.be/58rOhq6r1c8
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