Ferguson / Staten Island Decisions -- No Indictments

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

That's his story after the fact.

I try to think of this altercation as it developed.

It wouldn't surprise me if Wilson originally said "Get the fuck on the sidewalk."

He hasn't admitted that, and won't. Cussing is disrespectful, and if Wilson did that, it would have been an initial escalation perhaps based on racism.

And Wilson sure as hell didn't expect Brown to reach into the SUV and start hitting him, and a struggle for the gun ensuing. That major escalation is on Brown.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Silver and you brought the Feds into the discussion.

The Feds aren't any better than the locals, regardless of what locals we're talking about.

And, we get the Feds -- Eric Holder, and his justice department -- coning in, and investigating shootings like the ones in Ferguson and Sanford, and investigating the investigators.

There own house is not in order.

You think the cops and the prosecutors in St. Louis County/Ferguson are too chummy? How chummy are the FBI and federal prosecutors?

The Feds a re great at getting indictments, right? So how many of the FBI's shootings were even investigated by a grand jury?

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

*If* that is how the incident played out (and the evidence for such is merely the testimony of an accused man who is very clearly incorrect about at least some of his story), then Brown's escalation was almost certainly also racially motivated by fear/distaste/distrust of a white cop.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Yep. Racism on both sides, with severe escalation going completely nuclear.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Are you being serious with this?

If you are, institutionalized poverty is far more to blame for "barring" blacks from moving to the suburbs than institutionalized racism.

Either way, not sure what that has to do with whether or not there's a provable institutional problem with the Ferguson PD -- which, if true, should've been addressed long before Michael Brown's life intersected with Darren Wilson's.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Yeah, it sure is a shame that Ferguson isn't as racially progressive as the utopian society of Rural Whitelandia where you live.

Are there any African-Americans that live on your block? That go to your kid's school?

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Where I live is a slightly different variation on pretty much the same problem. Small town, about 8% black, almost entirely segregated into the poor part of town on the north side. It's not the same thing because 2/3rds black and 8% black are different, but the same attitudes persist.

There's only one school, but I'm sure the locals would find a way to segregate it if they could.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

Maybe Wilson is a good cop, involved in a good shooting.

Maybe Wilson was rightly worried that he would face the rest of his life in jail to satisfy the mob.

Maybe his lawyers -- along with jury consultants and/or other social scientists -- coached him on some phraseology he should use when he appeared in front of the grand jury, that they would find convincing. (This is a whole area of study that I would think a statics minded person like you would be interested in.)

And, maybe he followed that advise because it was his best bet to avoid indictment.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

And yet it wasn't. Even after the case where they beat an innocent black man and charged him with destruction of property for bleeding on their uniforms, then committed provable perjury because their sworn statements and their sworn testimony directly contradicted each other, there was no action. And here, when they decided to protect Wilson and tank the investigation right after the shooting, and all of their conduct in that ensuing week, that's all part of it.

Regarding the institutionalized racism, I mean, if you think a black man could have gone into suburban St. Louis and bought a home in 1970 if only he had the money, keep in mind that there was active discrimination in both hiring AND housing in that time.

This is a great article about it: http://billmoyers.com/2014/10/27/century-racist-policies-created-ferguson/

I guess this is an offshoot of the "blacks are the real racists" argument. When you see a segregated society, it's the poor people who are choosing to segregate.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

He didn't have to do anything to avoid indictment. The prosecutor was literally arguing against indictment. The only reason there *was* a grand jury was so the prosecutor who didn't want an indictment could have a bit of political cover. Short of Wilson confessing, there was nothing he could have said that would have changed the outcome of the grand jury proceedings. He had nothing to fear there.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

That's the part of this whole deal that stinks the most.

The prosecutor behaving as if he was the defense attorney at times during the grand jury. That's not supposed to happen. Then that bullshit press conference, where he blamed the media, social media and then essentially defended Wilson.

 

Re: Ferguson Decision -- No Indictment

No, when you see a segregated community today, it's generally segregated along the lines of "people who can afford to live in the nicer part of town" versus "people who can't." At least that's the case where I live.

Also, 1970 was an awfully long time ago. I know because I was born that year and I'm old. If St. Louis and adjacent localities have the same level of institutional racism that it -- and lots and lots of other places -- had 44 years ago, I'd be surprised.

And again, if institutional racism can be proven to be a root cause of not only Michael Brown's death but the other incidents people have referenced, then the DOJ should get involved and root out the racist cops/prosecutors.

It's not like the feds can claim they haven't heard the accusations. If there's all this blatant racism going on, it should be easy to identify in 2014.