Ferguson / Staten Island Decisions -- No Indictments

Why Michael Brown’s best friend’s story isn’t credible

By Paul Cassell December 2

Officer Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, so Brown never had the chance to tell his side of what happened. But standing next to Brown for much of the time — and observing the fatal shots — was Brown’s best friend, Dorian Johnson. Johnson seems to have originated the “hands up, don’t shoot” narrative. But Johnson’s story constantly changed and diverged from the physical evidence. It seems hard to come to any other conclusion than that Dorian Johnson’s version is simply made up.

http://wapo.st/1BfwOt2

 

I haven't read the story, so I don't even know what the author's angle is, but referring to Johnson as Brown's best friend immediately calls this article into question. Johnson said he'd known "Big Mike" for about three months before the shooting.

Refer to page 20:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/248126858/Dorian-Johnsons-Testimony-Before-the-Grand-Jury

 

But I'm sure these cases have nothing to do with race
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/criming-while-white-twitter-reacts-to-garner-decision-with-tales-of-white-privilege/

 

Much different than the talk that suburban white families have their kids.
"The cop is not your friend"
"No you can't search my car"
"Am I free to go"
"I want to speak to an attorney"

 

Check out the hashtags #crimingwhilewhite and #alivewhileblack:

http://mic.com/articles/105694/criming-while-white-brilliantly-destroys-law-enforcement-s-racial-double-standard

https://twitter.com/hashtag/alivewhileblack?src=hash

 

It's Thursday. Has Kenny Britt been arrested?

 

Those people should have not been doing whatever they were doing to bring the cops' attention. Duh.

 

Why won't those evil, cop-loving prosecutors ever charge an officer with a crime?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sc-cop-charged-murder-unarmed-man-shooting-27362718

 

EDIT: Never mind, I thought that was the previous case when I saw the South Carolina place. This is a different one, I see.

 

And it only took four years for the charges to be filed!

 

Re: body cameras:

In general I think they will help, and are a good idea. Both cops and the public will likely act more respectfully if they know they are on camera.

But, it's no panacea. Firstly, they need to be turned on. A cop in Utah recently didn't have his camera on during a fatal shooting. I expect we'll see lots of this if they become widespread.

And, I could see the process of saving/storing/archiving the footage to be a major problem. You just know that they won't be able to find, or will have taped over, footage that is sought by the public and/or the media.

I also don't think we should be surprised that cops don't want the cameras. No one likes to have someone looking over their shoulder while they work. We saw this issue with airline pilots not long ago. They didn't want cameras in the cockpit (mostly because they were worried about their ability to nap during the flight).

But, what work group wouldn't fight cameras?

Does anyone think teachers would embrace video cameras in the classroom?

If I drop of my dog at daycare, I can pull up a webcam and see how he's doing, and make sure he's being treated well. Why shouldn't parents have access to a password protected webcam and be able to check in on their kids, and make sure they are getting a good education?

 

Because, in general, parents are assholes. And some would want to micromanage every second of their precious snowflake's day. Helicoptering parents are a worse problem in this country than police shootings, IMO.