Tag Archives: missouri

Michael Brown shooting in Missouri, robbery footage and the total loss of credibility for Dorian Johnson’s witness report

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I’m back to square one on the whole Michael Brown shooting incident.

I feel now that I jumped to a conclusion about what really happened to Michael Brown based on what seemed like the credible witness report of his friend Dorian Johnson. I believed him.

But after seeing the convenience store robbery footage, where Johnson participated with Brown in the robbery, and after seeing Brown being so casually violent and brutish, taking advantage of his size to shove the clerk trying to stop him from stealing, I no longer believe Johnson’s statement.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/videos/ferguson-police-release-convenience-store-surveillance-video/youtube_ae9a6411-dfa2-548f-9aa2-07154c048d9c.html

 

What I’m saying here is that Johnson should be in jail.

And with regards to the shooting I can’t believe Johnson’s statement anymore about the chronology of events. He’s lost all credibility.

I feel I jumped to a conclusion about what happened before realizing what Brown’s character was really like and I’m not going to make any more assumptions about the shooting until more facts are in. Brown was not a good person though. That much is clear from the convenience store footage.

And what does it have to do with the shooting? Just that we know more about the nature of Johnson and Brown, that Johnson is not a reliable witness and we need to calmly wait now for a fair and complete investigation. Maybe by the Justice Department. 

 

Very positive development in Missouri

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You should read the entire story here, and see the photos. It’s very encouraging.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/14/6004215/a-considerably-different-atmosphere-in-ferguson-tonight?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=voxdotcom&utm_content=thursday

 

Snippets from the article:

 

The marches in Ferguson, Missouri, are carrying on with considerably less police resistance on Thursday than on Wednesday.

Ryan Reilly at the Huffington Post noted the stark differences.

Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, who’s been placed in charge of security at Ferguson, even hugged and walked alongside protesters.

One protester took a selfie with St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson.

Protesters and reporters on the ground are praising the clear change in tone, brought on just a few hours after Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced the Missouri Highway Patrol would be taking over security in Ferguson.

 

Missouri unrest

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Jumping into the Missouri unrest here… It’s very disturbing.

The following description of what happened to Michael Brown given by his friend Dorian Johnson, as reported in the New York Times, is the closest I’ve read to actual details about the event:

He said that he and Mr. Brown had been walking in the street when an officer drove up and told them to get onto the sidewalk. The two stayed in the street after telling the officer that they were close to Mr. Johnson’s house. The officer, who had passed them, then backed up, almost hitting them in doing so. He then tried to open his door, which hit Mr. Brown, and when the door bounced shut, the officer reached out and grabbed Mr. Brown.

“Mike was trying to get away from being choked,” Mr. Johnson told MSNBC. At that point, he said, the officer pulled a gun and fired, striking Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown “did not reach for the officer’s weapon at all,” he said.

Mr. Johnson said that he and Mr. Brown began to run, and while he ducked behind a car, Mr. Brown kept going. After Mr. Brown was shot a second time, Mr. Johnson said, he turned to face the officer with his hands up, the officer fired several more shots, and Mr. Brown fell.

Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing the Brown family, said Tuesday that Mr. Johnson had yet to be called in for questioning by the police and wanted to speak only to federal authorities.

“He does not trust the local law enforcement community,” Mr. Crump said. “How could he? He saw his friend executed.”

 

Meanwhile the police only say Mr. Brown hit the officer and tried to steal his gun.

I don’t know how to judge this. The police statement does not seem to make sense to me. After all, Brown was walking and the police were in a car. Why would he attempt to hit the officer and steal his gun? It seem improbable.

The way Johnson describes the events sounds more “credible.”

What I don’t understand is why the police even stopped them. Why did they try to order them off the street? Why didn’t they take them at their word that they were close to Johnson’s house? “Walking while black?”

To be honest I can’t help but feel that if it was me, and I was walking off the sidewalk, the police would not have bothered me.

Also, I cannot fathom among all this the looters and vandals wreaking havoc in the area. I can’t believe those people care at all about Michael Brown and feel they are, instead, just violent thugs taking advantage of the situation. And I’m glad arrests are being made.

I’m also glad Michael Brown’s parents are speaking up against the violence and asking for calm.

The photos of the police, to me, are frightening. It’s obviously very different from the Lafayette Square neighborhood in St. Louis where relations with police are very good.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-police-cite-safety-risk-in-decision-not-to-name-officer-in-shooting.html?_r=0