Posted on 08/15/2014 4:36:35 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Police in Ferguson, Mo. plan to release the name today of the officer who shot and killed an unarmed man – a Saturday shooting that sparked days of clashes in the streets of the St. Louis suburb.
Chief Thomas Jackson told ABC News that authorities will meet later this morning to figure out the best way to release the officer’s name. Police previously declined to identify the officer due to safety concerns.
“We’re learning and we’re moving forward. This all starts now to heal, to just make things better,” Jackson told ABC News.
Nixon thinks releasing the officer's name will help in Ferguson's healing process.
"I was pleased to hear the chief indicate this would be a day in which finally that initial name would come out, and we’ll work to make sure that his family and there’s security around that," Nixon told ABC News. "I think those kind of concrete steps of transparency leading to justice are vitally important now to heal the old wounds that have been made a fresh by this difficult and horrific situation."
Ferguson faced four consecutive nights of violence and riots following the weekend shooting death of Michael Brown, 18. Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands raised when he was fatally wounded, witnesses say.
Peaceful protests followed Thursday, after Nixon swapped local and county officers – many wearing riot gear – for state highway patrol troopers. Captain Ron Johnson, the leader of the highway patrol, walked side-by-side with demonstrators Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Democrats think they are securing their base. Maybe the victim was their sacrifice for political gain.
BINGO, right on the money. I see you can discern how the other side thinks. :)
Very good question.
Why release his name right now? I never understood the demand for the cop’s name...unless someone was planning revenge on the cop. It just does not seem necessary to release his name just yet.
He is a dead man walking and his family is now in grave danger.
Exactly.......
What we really need to see is some of that confiscated cellphone video taken by bystanders, to go along with this.
“Why release his name right now? I never understood the demand for the cop’s name...unless someone was planning revenge on the cop. It just does not seem necessary to release his name just yet.”
We don’t yet know the facts of the case and the circumstances involved in the shooting because the investigation is still underway. However, if a child of mine was unarmed and shot and killed by the police, I’d also demand the name of the killer. If the investigation showed the shooting was unjustified I’d need the name of the officer for the civil suit I would file as well as to have a real name when I demanded the district attorney file criminal charges. When police kill or maim citizens, the killings need to be investigated and the officer face the consequences if the injuries to the citizen were not justified. If individual policemen are unwilling to be held accountable, they need to leave the force.
It is unfortunate the officer’s life may be in danger from vigilantes when his name is released. However, keeping his name secret would serve to embolden increasingly militaristic local police forces around this nation who frequently demonstrate no respect for the rights of average citizens. It seems almost daily I read about heavily armed SWAT teams being used to physically break into homes for relatively minor offenses, those same SWAT teams breaking into the homes of innocent neighbors by mistake, policemen killing pets, and policemen stopping and harassing motorists with no cause. Protecting the identity of policemen only serves to make them less accountable to the public they are supposed to serve.
Don’t get me wrong. His name should be released eventually. Just not in the heat of the moment...not when people are in the streets burning and destroying.
I predict the Brown family’s lawyers will get most evidence suppressed. The first autopsy, the 911 calls, the dash-cam and even the shooting officer’s testimony.
Agree
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