Ha Ha! I can see a CEO being number one on the list :-)! Of course "public servant" also includes all those jobs like social workers, grade school teachers, and...um...public mental health professionals :-)! Surprised that military didn't make the list - must be the sane bunch!Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
12% of what? If we actually aren't going to rush to judgement like some accuse (it's actually isn't one side that does this), we have to ask questions like that. I followed all the links and can't find where this 12% number is even coming from. 12% of the registered voters? 12% of those legally eligible to vote? (then it's a matter of registration) 12% of the community - yea but some are children, and many probably have criminal records that preclude voting (espeically as those charges target poor minority communities - it could be quite a lot), so that's not very meaningful. If 12% of the those legally eligible don't vote, one could wonder why they don't vote.Although it would seem the republicans weren't counting on this. I think it's a great idea! What better time to remind people that they in fact can direct the course of their town. Voter turnout is pathetic everywhere but even more so in this town. .
Of course marching CAN be a way to change it as well. I don't know about their local community, voting might be a way to change it. In some places local politics can be responsive and in some places local politics seems to be so entirely dominated by certain interest groups (local developers and so on) that it's near impossible, although I'm not sure their main concern is in police behavior or that it would preclude police reforms.So while these people are complaining and marching, some are saying here...this is how you change it. Looks like a positive redirect to me.
Trees don't grow on money
I think one of the unfortnate aspects of these media frenzy trials is they seem to pick bad ones for the cause. I really do believe there are some abusive situations and obviously not all black kids are drug using criminals that assault people. But I sure wish they would find better standard bearers.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/20...n-says-source/
Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department's top brass told FoxNews.com.
“The Assistant (Police) Chief took him to the hospital, his face all swollen on one side,” said the insider. “He was beaten very severely.”
According to the well-placed source, Wilson was coming off another case in the neighborhood on Aug. 9 when he ordered Michael Brown and his friend Dorain Johnson to stop walking in the middle of the road because they were obstructing traffic. However, the confrontation quickly escalated into physical violence, the source said..
“They ignored him and the officer started to get out of the car to tell them to move," the source said. "They shoved him right back in, that’s when Michael Brown leans in and starts beating Officer Wilson in the head and the face.
The source claims that there is "solid proof" that there was a struggle between Brown and Wilson for the policeman’s firearm, resulting in the gun going off – although it still remains unclear at this stage who pulled the trigger. Brown started to walk away according to the account, prompting Wilson to draw his gun and order him to freeze. Brown, the source said, raised his hands in the air, and turned around saying, "What, you're going to shoot me?"
At that point, the source told FoxNews.com, the 6 foot, 4 inch, 292-pound Brown charged Wilson, prompting the officer to fire at least six shots at him, including the fatal bullet that penetrated the top of Brown's skull, according to an independent autopsy conducted at the request of Brown's family.
Wilson suffered a fractured eye socket in the fracas, and was left dazed by the initial confrontation, the source said. He is now "traumatized, scared for his life and his family, injured and terrified" that a grand jury, which began hearing evidence on Wednesday, will "make some kind of example out of him," the source said.
The source also said the dashboard and body cameras, which might have recorded crucial evidence, had been ordered by Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, but had only recently arrived and had not yet been deployed.
St. Louis County police, who have taken over the investigation, did not return requests for comment about possible injuries suffered by Wilson.
Edward Magee, spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCullough, said the office will not disclose the nature of the evidence it will reveal to a grand jury.
"We'll present every piece of evidence we have, witness statements, et cetera, to the grand jury, and we do not release any evidence or talk about evidence on the case."
Nabil Khattar, CEO of 7Star Industries – which specializes in firearms training for law enforcement and special operations personnel – confirmed that police are typically instructed to use deadly force if in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury.
“You may engage a threat with enough force that is reasonably necessary to defend against that danger,” he said.
Wilson is a six-year veteran of the Ferguson police force department, and has no prior disciplinary infringements.
Massive protests have since taken over the St. Louis community, prompting Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last Thursday to place Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson at the helm of security operations in an effort to calm ongoing tensions. The federal government is also investigating the death, and Attorney General Eric Holder has taken the lead – calling “the selective release of sensitive information” in the case “troubling.”
On Friday, Ferguson police released surveillance video showing Brown stealing cigars from a convenience store just before his death. Jackson came under intense criticism for disclosing the tape and a related police report as he also insisted that the alleged robbery and the encounter with Wilson were unrelated matters. Brown’s family, through their attorney, suggested the tape’s release was a strategic form of “character assassination.”
However, FoxNews.com’s source insisted that there was absolutely no spin agenda behind the tape’s release and that there were a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) media requests filed by media outlets seeking it. Tom Jackson is said to have waited on publicly releasing it, and did not want it shown until Brown’s grieving mother first had the chance to see it.
“He defied the FOIAs as long as he could,” noted the insider. “A powerful, ugly spin has completely ruined public discourse on this whole situation.”
I'm sure alot of people won't believe this account of what happened. Surely the officer will get a change of venue for the trial. Or is it possible it wouldn't go to trial?
The one that really confuses me here (maybe I just missed it) is I don't remember hearing squat about the police officer's physical injuries until today. If that information had gone out immediately I think it would have done a lot to diffuse the situation, making it much more obviously a matter of self defense.
Why would they hold onto that information so long? It's almost like they encouraged the protests and violence with a questionable story - and then days later it's like, oh, we had the proof it really was self defense. They knew day one.
OK. I've taken my 24 hour hiatus from this thread and have done some thinking about all of this. I think I have a line of the difference between myself and many other posters here and it's really simple - part of this is that others have some faith remaining in the police and the courts and in the concept of justice. That's great, if you still have this wonderful. My faith in all the above has been severely shaken to put it mildly and hangs by a thin thread at the best of times. I think if this holds true for you - you are going to look at things differently than for those who still have faith in the police and the courts. I don't even think this makes me right or wrong, or other posters right or wrong - it's just how I am going to react based on my life experiences. YMMV.
I'm glad that Holder is in Ferguson and I am dismayed that the governor of Missouri (Jay Nixon) issued a recent statement as to a vigorous prosecution or similar words - it does seem that the cop is entitled to tell his side of the story and it also seems the more that is revealed about Michael Brown, the less sorry I feel for him. Many of my issues surround police behavior AFTER the shooting, from the moment the body was left out in the muggy Midwest sun for almost five hours forward. It is hard having seen police brutality at work in my Hispanic neighborhood to not auto-side against the police after the visuals of the militarization and the heavy handedness. BUT I will agree that the officer involved should have a right to tell his side of the story and present evidence to back his story up - this is due process and someone else mentioned that above. I do believe the officer is entitled to due process - I also believe that there have been major mis steps by the authorities in Ferguson that might mean huge legal settlements going forward, ruined reputations, and the perception that the power needs to change hands if anything is to really change.
One thing I think we might all agree upon is that this situation is not going to politely go away. I think that's been made crystal clear at this point. Given that I have so little faith in the system in general, I will keep current with this with interest and I'd love to be proved wrong and have justice served - though as someone else posted some time back, what is justice here even going to look like? I also agree with the point made earlier that this is a very complex situation - not good, explosive and complex at the same time, with high levels of distrust on all sides.
I hope some good comes of all this for society. This is my fondest wish here. Rob
PS I did hear that officer suffered a fractured eye socket - this would lend faith in his claim that there was some kind of altercation between him and Brown.
There are witnesses who refute the police version of the story. It sounds like Wilson is readying his version of the Zimmerman defense.
but the ACLU has been trying to get the incident report for the shooting and still hasn't gotten it. So they release what is favorable to them, which may be legal, but spin is an entirely accurate term.on Friday, Ferguson police released surveillance video showing Brown stealing cigars from a convenience store just before his death. Jackson came under intense criticism for disclosing the tape and a related police report as he also insisted that the alleged robbery and the encounter with Wilson were unrelated matters. Brown’s family, through their attorney, suggested the tape’s release was a strategic form of “character assassination.”
However, FoxNews.com’s source insisted that there was absolutely no spin agenda behind the tape’s release and that there were a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) media requests filed by media outlets seeking it.
as tin foil as that is - maybe. Wanted to try out their toys.The one that really confuses me here (maybe I just missed it) is I don't remember hearing squat about the police officer's physical injuries until today. If that information had gone out immediately I think it would have done a lot to diffuse the situation, making it much more obviously a matter of self defense.
Why would they hold onto that information so long? It's almost like they encouraged the protests and violence with a questionable story - and then days later it's like, oh, we had the proof it really was self defense. They knew day one.
Trees don't grow on money
"They" are not releasing any official information about the investigation because the county prosecutor has said he's not releasing information that will go to a Grand Jury first.
I have not seen any official release of specific evidence about Officer Wilson's injuries and I don't think it exists. Soon after the shooting, the Ferguson Police Department Chief said publicly that the officer involved had bruises on his face when he gave a general update about the officer's condition, but that's it.
There is a lot of unofficial information out there and speculation. For instance, the report of the autopsy of Mike Brown given to the media and the public is not an official one because the report details an autopsy performed at a mortuary by a medical examiner-for-hire. He was paid by Mike Brown's family. Any diagrams of bullets and trajectories and etc that you've seen--that's not the state's report. The toxicology report on Mike Brown? From an unnamed, unofficial source. It's information, but not any released in an official capacity by those elected or appointed to serve the state's interest.
So for those of you who are now just learning about Officer Wilson's eye socket injury--that's speculation based on leaks to the media by unnamed sources.
It may true that Officer Wilson had severe head injuries including this specific eye socket fracture. I personally think it is true, based on the specificity of the injury that's been reported. But nothing has been confirmed.
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