MO - Grief and protests follow shooting of teen Michael Brown

[liljim]

friend witness;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQeni0qt8Vo

the girl (piaget) witness' statement at 58 seconds in (best i can find of it so far);

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/us/missouri-ferguson-michael-brown-what-we-know/index.html

there are at least 2 more potential witnesses, 2 people reported sitting in a car that the friend hid behind when the shooting started.

 

[katydid23]

there is a second witness statement and this girl tells the same story as the friend, she saw it from her house, says that michael was some distance away from the cop and he raised his hands and was shot several more times.

it is interesting to note that in the latest video of the police spokesperson (that was brought in from another department to investigate) he claims it as "fact" that brown purposefully pushed the officer back in his car and that there was a struggle for the officers weapon - he does not say 'the officer claims", he says "in fact, there was a struggle for the weapon in the car"...

could be an oversight, could be his mind is made up that that actually happened. note in my earlier post that the male friend witness offered to talk to police but they said no, he wasnt even interviewed at the scene (he initially ran home but then went back).

still not sure what exactly happened but it isnt looking good for this cop so far.

BBM

I can see why the cop would be hesitant to accept this person as a witness if they were suddenly walking up on the scene, coming from their house, but saying they had been there earlier. And they are a friend of the victim. How do we know they really saw anything or were really there at that time?

 

[liljim]

BBM

I can see why the cop would be hesitant to accept this person as a witness if they were suddenly walking up on the scene, coming from their house, but saying they had been there earlier. And they are a friend of the victim. How do we know they really saw anything or were really there at that time?

nobody disputes that this person is the other one that was walking with michael at the time of the incident, i would imagine the cop himself could identify him since he reported that he encountered two people walking in the street.

and would it be police policy to have a witness come forward to give a statement about a shooting like this and just refuse to talk to the person? i cant imagine why they would do that, they wouldnt even hear him out, just refuse to speak with him altogether? sounds very odd.

 

[vulture]

No one around here (except maybe some people in the media) believes that the people looting care about the death of Mr. Brown, they only saw an opportunity to do what they want to do anyway - selfish.

Ferguson is a tougher neighborhood than neighboring Florissant, where I grew up, but it's a place I still frequent. I've never felt unsafe there except when I worked at the Wal-Mart there in the 90s. The Wal-Mart is one of the stores that was looted. Because there is stuff there to steal it attracted a lot of criminals that were not necessarily from the neighborhood. I was a manager and one of my jobs was to investigate accidents and incidents and write up reports. I had occasion to take witness statements and more often than not the address the witnesses would list in the witness statement form was a St. Louis address, not a Ferguson one. That's because there aren't many stores in North St. Louis, for obvious reasons. The Wal-Mart where I worked was the 5th worst in the world when I worked there, based on lack of profit, number of accidents, and rate of theft. Even so there were a lot of great people working and shopping there, too bad a few predators have to ruin it for everybody. This makes me sad and embarrassed. I live in Mid-County now (Brentwood - right by the Galleria) but grew up in North County. Ferguson has been in a revival lately - I hope this doesn't set it back.

When I worked at the Wal-Mart especially being a manager I had a lot of dealings with the Ferguson Police (they were there probably on average at least once a day) and I always found them good to deal with. That doesn't mean one of them can't make a mistake but I don't know enough to know if that's the case here. In my opinion if you want to commit suicide by cop, (not saying I know that's what happened here), it's not worth people rioting over you.

One of my best friends lives in Ferguson and he said his street was quiet. He's had an exciting life there lately - near miss from a tornado a couple of years ago.

I'm white and can't ever see the world the way a black person can. I learned some things from my co-workers while I was there - when I worked there the crew and customers were about 60% black, 40% white by my best guess. Navigating the racial minefield each day was tricky. It's not that hard with the crew - over time they learn what you're about and may not like what you do but they know the motives aren't race-based. Customers are different, they don't know you and some of them have paranoia, and I can't say it's not justified. And some of the people I had to deal with were not customers at all but predators and would use race to their advantage any way they could for their selfish ends. It's a business tool for them and crime is their business. That's the category I put these looters in.

I still take Continuing Ed classes at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley which is right next to the Wal-Mart that was looted (separated by some woods). That's where I got my Associates degree many years ago. I haven't been there for a few months but a class I want to take is supposed to start Sept. 2 so I guess I'll see how the neighborhood is coming back or not.

I'm concerned about the media and out of town activists trying to whip this up into something that suits their needs (publicity, ratings) but destructive to the community. After they've done their damage they can move on but the people who live there have to deal with it forever.

 

[LiveLaughLuv]

Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend’s death

08/12/14 12:33 AM—Updated 08/12/14 09:37 AM

FERGUSON, Missouri — The last moments of Michael Brown’s life were filled with shock, fear and terror, says a witness who stood just feet away as a police officer shot and killed the unarmed teen.

“I saw the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” said Dorian Johnson, 22. “Then I saw the fire come out of the barrel.”

Johnson, in an exclusive interview with msnbc, said what began as an order by a police officer to ‘get the f— onto the sidewalk’ quickly escalated into a physical altercation and then, gunfire.

Brown’s killing on Saturday afternoon has sparked protests and rioting in this small, hardscrabble suburb of St. Louis, where tensions continue to rise between the police and the largely black, mostly poor community. Brown’s shooting lifted the lid on a pot that had long been bubbling .

The police say the officer shot Brown after the teen shoved the officer and tried to wrestle the officer’s gun from him. But a number of witnesses, including Johnson, refute those claims. And in the wake of the shooting, the Ferguson Police Department has asked the St. Louis County police to step in and take over the investigation





http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitness-michael-brown-fatal-shooting-missouri#

The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”

After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.

Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.

I don't understand why walking in the street caused this officer to become so aggressive?

 

[TroyinTX]

Sad situation.

However, I do not think, as mentioned, that those doing the looting care on iota about Michael Brown or "another dead black teen." If they did, there would be protests virtually every day in Chicago and other metropolitan cities (St. Louis included) where countless young black men are gunned down by each other on a regular basis.

Instead, they are using this tragedy as an opportunity to loot, steal, and act uncivilized, which is doing NOTHING for their supposed cause.

And this is not meant to be a defense of the cop by any means (we still do not know what happened), but I cannot imagine and you could not pay me enough to be a police officer in a major city.

 

[liljim]

there is a third witness that says that michael had his hands up when he was shot multiple more times;

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/1...-protesters-throwing-rocks/?intcmp=latestnews

"But Phillip Walker said he was on the porch of an apartment complex overlooking the scene when he heard a shot and saw a white officer with Brown on the street.

Brown "was giving up in the sense of raising his arms and being subdued," Walker told The Associated Press. The officer "had his gun raised and started shooting the individual in the chest multiple times." The officer then "stood over him and shot him" after the victim fell wounded."

 

[liljim]

live video of protesters gathering outside police station, police expected to release identity of officer involved in shooting;

http://www.ksdk.com/news/

edit - hmm direct link didnt seem to work, click on red banner

edit edit - video now appears to be down and banner is gone when i reloaded the page.

 

[QueenD]

If the police officer did wrong in this case and shot an unarmed person, standing with hands up then why take it out on the whole town and police department? I don't ever get why people have to act this way.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[liljim]

If the police officer did wrong in this case and shot an unarmed person, standing with hands up then why take it out on the whole town and police department? I don't ever get why people have to act this way.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

there is no excuse for that.

*video appears to be down.

 

[liljim]

there were reports last night that anonymous released the cop's name and address, phone number, i could not confirm it and only saw them release the info for the police chief - but now reports are that the officer's name will not be released because of death threats made to him, so i guess his identity is out there, looking for link to confirm...

https://time.com/3103785/michael-brown-ferguson-st-louis-police-officer-name/

“A lot of threats against the officer were made on Twitter, Facebook, all social media,” Zoll said. “We are protecting the officer’s safety by not releasing the name.”

The St. Louis County Police Department, which has been a constant presence in the town since Saturday’s fatal shooting, is also keeping mum."

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

live video of protesters gathering outside police station, police expected to release identity of officer involved in shooting;

http://www.ksdk.com/news/

edit - hmm direct link didnt seem to work, click on red banner

edit edit - video now appears to be down and banner is gone when i reloaded the page.

Release of officer's name in Michael Brown shooting delayed

Release is delayed because of threats made toward the officer on social media. He says there is no timetable for the release of the name, and the decision is up to Chief Jackson and city authorities.

Doesn't look like they will release a name until judge orders it or charges are brought against officer.



http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/loca...brown-shooting-officer-name-delayed/13945205/

 

[liljim]

not going to be well received by the public. hopefully the families repeated calls for peace will hold up.

 

[liljim]

michael's parents seem incredibly strong and responsible. its hard to see them suffering so much.

 

[al66pine]

2 min vid clip at. link.
Neighbor is angry about looting, posts note at QuikTrip (C-store) that was looted and burned.
Sounds level headed, unlike those who did looting & burning.
Behind her is remnants of store. Clearly ppl were not just running in & grabbing beer and snacks.
In other pix, hard to ID that place as a QT.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/multim...tml_63a31de8-6f29-5592-8161-76d44eade66a.html Pub. Mon Aug 11
(Sorry if already posted)

 

[liljim]

there is a youtube video that shows the immediate aftermath of the scene, not sure if allowed to post it, it is somewhat graphic but mostly blocked out, sometimes shows body covered by blanket.

i wont post it unless someone tells me its allowed.

 

[liljim]

since anonymous became involved in this case there is a lot of info being released but none of it can be posted here...

 

[reedus23]

I thought this would be more of a hot topic on WS! Anybody else following this?

More than following it. Tragic in so many respects.

 

[reedus23]

I'm happy to hear the FBI will investigate. I hope they can get to the bottom of it.

They are running a parallel investigation. They should have just taken it over completely but this is better than nothing.

 

[popsicle]

I think I will wait to see what evidence they find in and on the police car for starters. Also, with cell phone video being rampant and we have none?