Posted on 11/28/2014 8:00:11 AM PST by maggief
Published on Aug 12, 2014
Al Sharpton called for transparency in the Michael Brown police shooting case. He said he knows people are angry but urged them to throw their arms up instead of turning to violence. (Aug 12, 2014)
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
August 12, 2014
"If you're angry, throw your arms up," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who traveled to St. Louis in the wake of the death of Michael Brown.
"If you want justice, throw your arms up. Because that's the sign Michael was using. He had a surrender sign.
"That's the sign you have to deal with. Use the sign he last showed. We want answers why that last sign was not respected."
Obama Told Civil Rights Activists: Keep Ferguson ‘Staying On Course’
11/17/2014
EXCERPT
When Obama met with a group of civil rights activists including Rev. Al Sharpton at the White House on Nov. 5, the day after his party’s defeat in the midterm elections, he expressed his commitment to keeping the protests in Ferguson “on course.”
Sharpton said Obama “was concerned about Ferguson staying on course in terms of pursuing what it was that he knew we were advocating. He said he hopes that we’re doing all we can to keep peace,” according to the 21st paragraph of a New York Times article.
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FLASHBACK:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3195872/posts
Sharpton a key advisor to Obama on Ferguson (reported back directly to Valerie Jarrett)
NY Post ^ | August 22, 2014 | Pat Bailey
EXCERPT
While in Ferguson, Sharpton met with the Brown family and reported back directly to Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama’s closest aides.
Sharpton was directed to find out specific information including what the Brown family wanted from the White House, Politico reports.
The veteran activist, who is also leading Saturday’s march on Staten Island against police brutality in New York, even suggested Jarrett turn up the heat on Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, and appoint a special prosecutor to replace St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch in the Brown case.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/al-sharpton-obama-race-110249.html#ixzz3KNRc827d
Revved Up
How Al Sharpton became Obama’s go-to man on race.
By GLENN THRUSH
August 21, 2014
EXCERPTS
...In Ferguson, Sharpton established himself as a de facto contact and conduit for a jittery White House seeking to negotiate a middle ground between meddling and disengagement. “There’s a trust factor with The Rev from the Oval Office on down,” a White House official familiar with their dealings told me. “He gets it, and he’s got credibility in the community that nobody else has got. There’s really no one else out there who does what he does.”
And the White House, as the crisis following Brown’s death seemed to flare out of control, worked extensively behind the scenes to maximize The Rev’s doing what he does, using him as both a source of information and a go-between. After huddling with Brown’s family and local community leaders, Sharpton connected directly with White House adviser and First Friend Valerie Jarrett, vacationing in her condo in the exclusive Oak Bluffs section of Martha’s Vineyard, not far from where President Obama and his family were staying. Obama was “horrified” by the images he was seeing on TV, Jarrett told Sharpton, and proceeded to pepper him with questions as she collected information for the president: How bad was the violence? Was it being fueled by outside groups—and could Sharpton do anything to talk them down? What did the Brown family want the White House to do?
(snip)
Sharpton told me in an interview this week, and indeed Sharpton not only visits the White House frequently, he often texts or emails with senior Obama officials such as Jarrett and Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African American to hold that job and who, like Sharpton, views the Ferguson crisis as a pivotal one in Obama’s presidency.
“I’ve known Al since he was 12 years old, and he’s arrived at the level he always wanted to arrive at, which is gratifying,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a colleague and sometimes rival, told me. “He’s the man who’s the liaison to the White House, he’s the one who’s talking to the Justice Department.”
MO LT GOV: WE WANT TO SEE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN GOV AND WH
26 Nov 2014
Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder (R) reported that he and leaders in the Missouri House and Senate are filing a request to see the communications between the White House and Governor Jay Nixon (D) to see if the White House pressured Nixon not to send the National Guard to Ferguson on Wednesday's “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.
(snip)
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FLASHBACK:
NEW YORK TIMES AUGUST 18, 2014
EXCERPTS
In Washington, President Barack Obama said that Attorney General Eric Holder would go to Ferguson on Wednesday to meet with FBI agents conducting a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. He seemed less than enthusiastic about the decision to call in the National Guard.
Obama said he had told the governor in a phone call on Monday that the Guard should be “used in a limited and appropriate way.”
He said he would be closely monitoring the deployment.
“I’ll be watching over the next several days to assess whether in fact it’s helping rather than hindering progress in Ferguson,” said Obama, who emphasized that the state of Missouri, not the White House, had called in the Guard.
http://tbo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140818/ARTICLE/140819235&template=printart
Holder headed to Ferguson on Wednesday, will oversee federal response to shooting
By EMILY WAX-THIBODEAUX, DENEEN L. BROWN AND JERRY MARKON
The Washington Post.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
FERGUSON, Mo. — President Barack Obama on Monday dispatched the attorney general to personally oversee the government’s response to the fatal police shooting 10 days ago of an unarmed black teenager, the latest step in an extensive federal investigation that was expanding even as National Guard troops moved onto the restive streets of this St. Louis suburb.
Attorney General Eric Holder will meet Wednesday in Ferguson with some of the FBI agents and prosecutors who have already interviewed more than 200 people as they scour the area where 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer. Holder pledged “the full resources” of his department to investigate Brown’s death, which has triggered unrest so severe that Missouri’s governor on Monday called in the state’s National Guard.
Behind the scenes, the administration worked to reassure some in the civil rights community that the nation’s first black president sees the Ferguson crisis as an important moment. In a conference call Monday with civil rights groups, Holder and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett - perhaps Obama’s closest confidant - said the case is a top priority.
(snip)
Nixon had ordered the midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew two days earlier after a week of clashes between demonstrators and police following Brown’s death on Aug. 9. He brought in National Guard troops after the most chaotic night yet Sunday, one marked by protesters shooting and throwing molotov cocktails at police, and officers deploying tear gas.
The arrival of the Guard troops evoked images of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s - when they were deployed to help integrate institutions in the South and restore order in burning cities - though the Guard is better known recently for its full-time roles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Monday, the Guard’s role contributed to what appeared to be the latest example of federal-state tensions in the response to Brown’s death, which is also being investigated by state officials. A White House official said Nixon did not notify the administration before announcing his decision to call up the Guard.
And at his White House news conference, Obama was notably cool in his response and offered only lukewarm support. The president said he had told Nixon in a phone call Monday that the Guard should be “used in a limited and appropriate way,” and he told reporters that he will be watching in the coming days “to assess whether in fact it is helping rather than hindering progress in Ferguson.”
(snip)
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(no link)
THE ED SHOW for August 18, 2014, MSNBC
MSNBC - Monday, August 18, 2014
Show: THE ED SHOW
Author: Ed Schultz, Courtney Reagan
EXCERPT
SCHULTZ: So, what do we have at this hour? The president of the United States has spoken to the American people. The president of the United States has been on record of what he thinks of the looting that is taking place. And the president of the United States has injected himself into this through the attorney general who is going to be on the scene in Missouri. All good moves.
Now, let me tell you the bad move. What in the world would provoke the governor of a state to throw the state National Guard into the mix when it’s been one night after another of nothing but distrust and unrest in a community that has now seen crime right out on the streets? It makes no sense. He’s asking for another Kent State. And the bottom line here is that State Governor Nixon has not been down into that community and talk to those people face to face at any time as of late since this shooting took place.
So now, the question is how do we defuse this? Every time a curfew, as I saw it, it was nothing but a challenge to these protesters and now you’re going to put the state National Guard there, a show of more force? No. Back off the National Guard , back off the curfew and start listening to these folks and maybe the crimes won’t be committed. These people don’t want to see a show of force; they want to see a show of justice. The president made the right moves today, the governor has not done too many things correctly since all of this unfolded.
For more, let me bring in Reverend Jesse Jackson, President of Rainbow/Push Coalition who has spent time down in Ferguson and joins us tonight from Ferguson Missouri.
Reverend, good to have you with us. You have seen a lot of protest and a lot of unrest in your career in your life time. I want you thoughts tonight on the state National Guard being called out in a situation that seems to be very volatile. And at this hour, we really don’t know what’s going to unfold tonight. Reverend, your thoughts.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION PRESIDENT: It’s a series of missteps by the law officers. One was bringing the tanks and that was over appealed, the next they have no one that was on the protection, then the curfew and now, the National Guard . The National Guard , they’re here, they have another cover of falls protection but does not deal with the underlying cause of the problem.
(snip)
SCHULTZ: Reverend, with the autopsy being released today, the private autopsy, commissioned by the family and the fact that the wheels of justice seemed to be moving pretty slow. The prosecutor down there has not even going in contact in any of the witnesses to my knowledge. What’s wrong with this? Why is it taking so long to move the wheels of justice in your opinion?
JACKSON: Well, just to lay it of course as justice denied and the court is slow moving adds to the suspense and adds to the mistrust. Of course, it adds to the seven percent African-American and 56 policemen, only three are African-American versus no firearm on here, no blacks from the school board, no blacks on the city council. So, they kind of lock out of their own government and feel they break sense of isolation, Ed, and everything that’s happened has added to the distrust.
And when President Obama weighed on this today, he’s weighing in Mr. Holder coming in which is in respect to him because I really think that this Ferguson is a metaphor for abandoning the urban America. We better put the fire right here before it spreads.
POLITICS NATION for August 15, 2014, MSNBC
MSNBC - Friday, August 15, 2014
Show: POLITICS NATION
Author: Al Sharpton ; Lisa Bloom
EXCERPT
SHARPTON : The Michael Brown tragedy has renewed the focus on police and civil rights in our community.
Joining me now is Martin Luther King III. Thanks for being here.
MARTIN LUTHER KING III, PRESIDENT, KING CENTER: Thanks, Rev.
SHARPTON : Martin , do you think that the killing in Ferguson and its aftermath are also part of a larger civil rights issue at the forefront of the movement today?
KING : Well, I certainly think that when we look at this specific situation and police brutality and misconduct that that’s still a major problem. And I’m certainly grateful that you and I back I believe in 2000, we were probably about to get racial profiling addressed when, in fact, in 2001, 9/11 occurred. And it sort to re-empowered the police presence.
SHARPTON : Right.
KING : And so what we see — what is so wonderful in one sense about what we see in Ferguson is the concept of community policing is being enforced. That’s something that needs to be unanimously embraced across our nation. But human relations, sensitivity and diversity training is certainly in order.
SHARPTON : You know, to that point, the images out of Ferguson this week bear a striking resemblance to the images we saw come out of the civil rights movement in the ‘60s. Police lining up on the streets. Police pointing guns at protesters. Even officers holding dogs. I mean, we have come a long way. But there is still a long way to go, Martin . Right?
KING : Well, absolutely. And I think that the moment that our communities come together. And, quite frankly, it’s not just our communities. It really is creating what I would call is a strategic plan that infuses capital as well technical training, giving people viable skills so that they can, in fact, really assume their rightful places and become responsible. But when you have communities where there is no opportunity, that’s a remedy for disaster. And we see it over and over again. And the fact that police in some communities do not know how to interact with other ethnic groups.
Ferguson - “Revved up”
Obama: ‘If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon’
FLASHBACK:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/03/24/142983/martin-familys-lawyers-no-strangers.html
Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2012
EXCERPTS
In Trayvon’s case, (Parks & Crump) alerted the news media more quickly. They phoned the Rev. Al Sharpton almost instantly, and organized marches with local civil rights activists. They also started pressing for federal involvement and alleging a cover-up from the get-go.
(snip)
“In court, you have the jury,” Crump says. “Our job is to get the case to a jury. We need to fight first in the court of public opinion. The jury is the American people.
Someone Must Be Punished for Killing Trayvon Martin, Says Mom Sybrina Fulton
by Allison Samuels Mar 22, 2012 2:04 AM EDT
EXCERPT
The now controversial killing of Trayvon garnered virtually no mainstream media attention in the days immediately after he was fatally shot, but that all changed when the teenager’s parents decided to hire civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and his law firm to get more answers on exactly how and why their son died.
“They called me the same day they were notified that their son was dead,’’ Crump told The Daily Beast. “When I heard their unarmed teenage son was shot to death, I just knew there’d be an arrest shortly. There wasn’t an arrest 48 hours later, and then I knew we’d have to take this outside of Sanford if we wanted justice.’’
Trayvon’s parents were told by the Sanford police that Zimmerman wasn’t arrested in their son’s death because the facts of the case did not dispute his claim of self-defense.
For Crump, taking the Trayvon Martin story outside of Sanford simply entailed dialing up a few well-placed friends such as the Rev. Al Sharpton. Crump worked closely with the civil rights leader in 2006 on another racially charged case—the controversial death of a 14-year-old, African-American inmate of a Florida boot camp.
“I had to call people like Sharpton and a few other black civil rights leaders and the black media to tell them about this story,’’ said Crump. “I had to get them to understand what happened to this young man and what hadn’t happened in his case so they could spread the word.’’
Historically, cases of murder and violence against blacks in the United States rarely have been given the same amount of attention as cases in which the victims of crime are white—and often go unnoticed and unprosecuted.
Just days after hearing the details of Trayvon’s death, Sharpton arranged to have Crump and the teenager’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, on his syndicated radio show and his popular MSNBC show, Politics Nation, to tell their story.
(snip)
In the wake of non-stop media attention from the likes of Sharpton and CNN’s Don Lemon concerning the Trayvon Martin case, black media blogs such as MediaTakeOut.com and Huffington Post Black Voices also began publishing accounts and editorials about the Florida case—daily. Almost instantly, readers of all races, ages, and backgrounds began tweeting and posting on Facebook their outrage over how the police have handled the case, and the lack of an arrest in the shooting. To date, almost 1 million people have signed a Change.Org petition to have Zimmerman arrested. In response to the widespread outrage, the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the shooting.
That was then, this is now.
Libs will be talking of the Ferguson Uprising for years to come and will milk it for all its worth.
Civil disobedience has a short shelf life in Sharpton’s world.
As YOU call yourself: “Rev Al, crawl back in your hole and cover yourself up, we don’t want you around or to see you or hear you, you’re a piece of trash!”
Yeah, because we all know that you surrender by beating the tar out of someone, then running at them again when they haven’t succumbed to your gentle giant touch.
If Al would just read the Grand Jury report, he could understand everything about the case. Maybe, just maybe, Al can’t read?
He doesn’t care about the facts. The perception is what really matters, stupid.
Facts be damned ...
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/nov/28/some-location-browns-hands-irrelevant-ferguson-sho/
For some, location of Brown’s hands irrelevant in Ferguson shooting
“Even if you don’t find that it’s true, it’s a valid rallying cry,” ... “It’s just a metaphor.”
The image of the “gentle giant” is more important for some people than the circumstances.
Michael Brown is now an American legend, a sort of metaphor for whatever people want to see about the state of race relations, inequality, injustice and a feeling of generalized oppression in America.
Who he actually was is beside the point.
“We want answers why that last sign was not respected.”
Justice is blind ?
Justice is not color-blind when there is a white cop in the picture.
uh..... the title of this article starts off with the word FLASHBACK. Note the date -Aug 12,2014
After several months of heat and national controversy, all we learned is the Michael Brown contingent destroyed a good man’s life, made a mockery of our justice system, turned Ferguson into shambles and didn’t bring this country closer together.
You have to ask: was it really worth it? I think we all know the answer.
IF... everything in the Mike Brown incident had happened exactly as described by the truthful witnesses and the evidence BUT the police officer was negro, would we even have heard of this case ?
I saw that article too.
The whole basis for their protests was a complete lie and now they say it doesn’t matter. Further, to them, it’s not even about Mike Brown anymore. Actually, it never was.
No. If the facts were exactly the same and Darren Wilson had been black, it would have been a non-news story.
Wilson was hounded out of his job because of black racism.
Yeah, now that everyone knows who he was and what he did. It never was about Mike Brown anyway.
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