Posted on 08/01/2020 7:36:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
To this day, in protests across America, crowds will taunt policemen with the words, “Hands up, don’t shoot!” These words were allegedly uttered by my namesake Michael Brown before he was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri by white police officer Darren Wilson in 2014. The fact that witnesses attest that Brown never uttered such words is immaterial. The myth has been enshrined.
Brown’s death, which sparked weeks of rioting and helped spawn the BLM movement, is something I am reminded of virtually every single day. And I mean that literally.
That’s because, a few years ago, a colleague of mine suggested that I sign up for Google Alerts, letting me know when my name was mentioned somewhere in the news.
Out of curiosity, but with full knowledge that there are many different Michael Brown’s in the news, I signed up for this free service. And for years now, virtually without break, there are at least 4-5 articles a day mentioning the death of Michael Brown.
He has been codified as a martyr. His name is mentioned side by side with Eric Garner and George Floyd and other blacks who have died at the hands of the police. He died as the innocent victim of white police brutality. His last words were, “Hands up, don’t shoot!” The stories are always the same.
It doesn’t matter that local authorities did not find sufficient evidence to convict Officer Wilson of manslaughter, let alone murder.
It doesn’t matter that a lengthy, expensive investigation led by President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder also did not find evidence to convict Wilson. (Bear in mind that this investigation did find evidence of racism in the local police department. Yet it did not find evidence that Wilson used excessive force in his encounter with Brown.)
And it won’t matter now that St. Louis County’s top prosecutor, Prosecuting Attorney William Bell, himself black, has not found sufficient evidence to convict Wilson after a 5-month investigation.
The myth will live on. It has been codified.
In Bell’s own words, "'My heart breaks' for Michael's parents. 'I know this is not the result they were looking for and that their pain will continue forever.'"
Yet it was the result of his investigation, just as it has been the result of every investigation conducted to date. There is no clear evidence to convict Wilson.
As explained by Larry Elder in a Prager U video, “Federal investigators from the Department of Justice found no credible evidence that Brown ever raised his hands in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture — or in any way heeded the officer’s commands for him to surrender.
“The federal report concluded that ‘…witnesses who originally stated Brown had his hands up in surrender recanted their original accounts, admitting that they did not witness the shooting or parts of it…’
“Investigators also concluded Brown never uttered the now iconic phrase.
“Again, from the report: ‘The media has widely reported that there is witness testimony that Brown said 'don’t shoot' as he held his hands above his head. In fact, our investigation did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said 'don’t shoot.'"
As stated on the United States Department of Justice website on March 4, 2015, “The Justice Department announced the findings of its two civil rights investigations related to Ferguson, Missouri, today. The Justice Department found that the Ferguson Police Department (FPD) engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments of the Constitution. The Justice Department also announced that the evidence examined in its independent, federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown does not support federal civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.”
If any report would have found evidence against Wilson, it was this one, and yet it did not. And now, another lengthy investigation has come to similar conclusions.
But what’s my purpose in bringing this up?
Well, truth does matter, doesn’t it? And there’s something wrong with building a movement on a lie (although, sadly, many a movement has been built on a lie).
Still, it’s only fair to ask if drawing attention to the mythological aspects of Brown’s death won’t diminish the real suffering of men like George Floyd.
Actually, in many cases, the reverse is true. There are people who have become hardened to the charge of police brutality because of the Ferguson lie. They are more inclined to dismiss the true and real because of the false and mythological. And without compelling video evidence, as in the case of George Floyd, they are prone to say, “Right. Just like Michael Brown. Just like ‘Hands up, don’t shoot.’ I don’t believe it.”
This is similar to the lie about Matthew Shepard, who has become the icon of anti-gay brutality. Some conservatives write off much of the narrative of gay suffering because Shepard’s brutal death was drug-related, not gay-related, even though laws have been enacted in his name. Plus, the false narrative distracts from the deeper issue of drugs and crime.
As stated by gay activist John Stoltenberg, “Keeping Matthew as the poster boy of gay-hate crime and ignoring the full tragedy of his story has been the agenda of many gay-movement leaders. Ignoring the tragedies of Matthew’s life prior to his murder will do nothing to help other young men in our community who are sold for sex, ravaged by drugs, and generally exploited. They will remain invisible and lost.”
So, the myth about Shepard’s tragic death distracts from the deeper tragedies that surrounded his life — and the lives of other young, gay men.
Do I have hope that these lies will actually die? To sound a rare note of pessimism, no, I do not.
But now that yet another investigation does not find sufficient evidence to convict Darren Wilson, it’s worth a try.
By rejecting the false narratives, we can focus on the truthful ones. And those do deserve our attention.
The myth has become legend. Some an assclown wearing a shirt yesterday with “GUILTY because the color of my skin!” SMDH! Act like an asshat, get treated like an asshat. Act respectfully and get treated respectfully. I know that’s a stretch to figure out for some folks but.........................
A fervent movement based upon a lie? Read the history of Joseph Smith.
Got my lizard; where's my hat?
So all that Brown stuff was a set up for bringing up the sufferings of perverts?
Poofters: must everything be made about them?
Just like the myths about saint Skittles.
A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
Or as Dan Rather would say, Fake, but accurate. It was made up, we know it was made up, but it’s still truthful. You can’t make the whole thing go away by saying it didn’t happen as we know it didn’t happen. Hands up, don’t shoot, say his name, Michael Brown...
Reality is that he stole from a store, then marched his big man butt down the middle of the street, attacked the officer who contacted him, and got shot. But it’s about police brutality.
Saint Brown’s actual actions, what actually happened, to the liberal mind, it doesn’t matter. In their faith, he transcended from being a neighborhood thug who finally punched the wrong man to someone who was shot while innocently holding his hands on high.
Who says we don’t have a state religion...
Police Brutality....... Negro Defense Lawyer falderal, legal disgrace, American travesty.
The problem is not Cops, the problem is molly coddled black criminals that reject America and live by continuously breaking the law. Presently, it is a black societal disgrace to be apprehended and an absolute right to resist arrest and flee.
Injuring cops in the process and totally disregarding the cops civil right to a safe workplace is points on positive in ordinary black society be it criminal or non criminal. The black right to transgress the law in every possible manner is the first item on being black. There is no law.
There was a negro president of the united States who promoted the black law less ness in the name of equality. If blacks were truly equal, there would not be enough taxpayer money to buy the prison facilities to house them.
Any one who claims these statements are racist has forfeited his right to be American. He has surrendered to the black criminal class
Michael Brown's thuggish brain
burned with rage and disdain,
but the last thing passing through his racist head
... was Darren Wilson's hot service lead.
The lesson here is plain,
be good, play nice, reach old age,
be bad, be thuggish, you soon be dead.
LOL
When emotion is involved there is no room for logic and reason.
TWENTY FIVE TOP QUOTES FROM THE DOJ’S REPORT ON THE MICHAEL BROWN SHOOTING
(For official DOJ report, Google “DOJ Report on Shooting of Michael Brown PDF.”)
[01] The evidence, when viewed as a whole, does not support the conclusion that Wilson’s uses of deadly force were “objectively unreasonable” under the Supreme Court’s definition. (Page 5)
[02] when the store clerk tried to stop Brown, Brown used his physical size to stand over him and forcefully shove him away. (Page 6)
[03] Wilson was aware of the theft and had a description of the suspects as he encountered Brown and Witness 101. (Page 6)
[04] Autopsy results and bullet trajectory, skin from Brown’s palm on the outside of the SUV door as well as Brown’s DNA on the inside of the driver’s door corroborate Wilson’s account that during the struggle, Brown used his right hand to grab and attempt to control Wilson’s gun. (Page 6)
[05] there is no credible evidence to disprove Wilson’s account of what occurred inside the SUV. (Page 7)
[06] autopsy results confirm that Wilson did not shoot Brown in the back as he was running away because there were no entrance wounds to Brown’s back. (Page 7)
[07] witnesses who originally stated Brown had his hands up in surrender recanted their original accounts (Page 8)
[08] several witnesses stated that Brown appeared to pose a physical threat to Wilson as he moved toward Wilson. (Page 8)
[09] The physical evidence also establishes that Brown moved forward toward Wilson after he turned around to face him. The physical evidence is corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses. (Page 10)
[10] evidence does not establish that it was unreasonable for Wilson to perceive Brown as a threat while Brown was punching and grabbing him in the SUV and attempting to take his gun. (Page 11)
[11] Wilson’s account is corroborated by physical evidence and that his perception of a threat posed by Brown is corroborated by other eyewitnesses (Page 12)
[12] Wilson’s account was consistent with those results, and consistent with the accounts of other independent eyewitnesses, whose accounts were also consistent with the physical evidence. Wilson’s statements were consistent with each other in all material ways, and would not be subject to effective impeachment for inconsistencies or deviation from the physical evidence.8 Therefore, in analyzing all of the evidence, federal prosecutors found Wilson’s account to be credible. (Page 16)
[13] Witness accounts suggesting that Brown was standing still with his hands raised in an unambiguous signal of surrender when Wilson shot Brown are inconsistent with the physical evidence, are otherwise not credible because of internal inconsistencies, or are not credible because of inconsistencies with other credible evidence. (Page 78)
[14] Multiple credible witnesses corroborate virtually every material aspect of Wilson’s account and are consistent with the physical evidence. (Page 78)
[15] several of these witnesses stated that they would have felt threatened by Brown and would have responded in the same way Wilson did. (Page 82)
[16] there are no witnesses who could testify credibly that Wilson shot Brown while Brown was clearly attempting to surrender. (Page 83)
[17] There is no witness who has stated that Brown had his hands up in surrender whose statement is otherwise consistent with the physical evidence. (Page 83)
[18] The media has widely reported that there is witness testimony that Brown said “don’t shoot” as he held his hands above his head. In fact, our investigation did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said “don’t shoot.” (Page 83)
[19] Wilson did not know that Brown was not armed at the time he shot him, and had reason to suspect that he might be when Brown reached into the waistband of his pants as he advanced toward Wilson. (Page 84)
[20] Wilson did not have time to determine whether Brown had a gun and was not required to risk being shot himself in order to make a more definitive assessment.
[21] In addition, even assuming that Wilson definitively knew that Brown was not armed, Wilson was aware that Brown had already assaulted him once and attempted to gain control of his gun. (Page 85)
[22] Wilson has a strong argument that he was justified in firing his weapon at Brown as he continued to advance toward him and refuse commands to stop, and the law does not require Wilson to wait until Brown was close enough to physically assault Wilson. (Page 85)
[23] we must avoid substituting our personal notions of proper police procedure for the instantaneous decision of the officer at the scene. We must never allow the theoretical, sanitized world of our imagination to replace the dangerous and complex world that policemen face every day.” (Page 85)
[24] “It may appear, in the calm aftermath, that an officer could have taken a different course, but we do not hold the police to such a demanding standard.” (citing Gardner v. Buerger, 82 F.3d 248, 251 (8th Cir. 1996) (same))). Rather, where, as here, an officer points his gun at a suspect to halt his advance, that suspect should be on notice that “escalation of the situation would result in the use of the firearm.” Estate of Morgan at 498. An officer is permitted to continue firing until the threat is neutralized. See Plumhoff v. Rickard, 134 S.Ct. 2012, 2022 (2014) (“Officers need not stop shooting until the threat has ended”). For all of the reasons stated, Wilson’s conduct in shooting Brown as he advanced on Wilson, and until he fell to the ground, was not objectively unreasonable and thus not a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242. (Page 85)
[25] Given that Wilson’s account is corroborated by physical evidence and that his perception of a threat posed by Brown is corroborated by other eyewitnesses, to include aspects of the testimony of Witness 101, there is no credible evidence that Wilson willfully shot Brown as he was attempting to surrender or was otherwise not posing a threat. (Page 86)
For the reasons set forth above, this matter lacks prosecutive merit and should be closed.
Is this a call to THE FLYING INMANS?
Maybe the Dancing Itos.
A call to the Flying Inmans!
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