With the second wave of Ferguson protests marking the anniversary of the police shooting of a black teen — who assaulted and robbed a store clerk and then assaulted an officer when he attempted to detain him — there’s been a renewed, and ongoing, focus on the actions of police in such situations.
Police continue to be under the microscope — and on cellphone video — but many allegations of police brutality are absolutely absurd, and some tales are fabricated.
We’re not saying all cops are saints and their actions under stress are always correct.
Certainly there are bad apples in police departments, just like there are bad doctors, lawyers, even journalists.
And like all of us, they’re human and make mistakes.
But for the most part, based on our experiences dealing with police for many decades, the majority are sincere in their jobs to “serve and protect” citizens and property.
The fact is that police, deputies and other law enforcement officers daily face the risk that they will be assaulted, and wounded as they go about their job of investigating crimes and apprehending criminals. Sometimes they face danger in responding to routine calls.
It happened last week in Franklin County when a deputy encountered a suspect while investigating an armed robbery at a Villa Ridge business.
After hours of searching, a deputy answered reports of a suspicious man in a subdivision not far from the business. He approached the man who at first appeared cooperative.
Then the situation quickly changed and the deputy found himself looking down the barrel of a handgun the suspect pulled from his waistband.
In that instant, with his life on the line, he took action and charged the suspect. During an ensuing scuffle over the deputy’s gun, the suspect was shot in the head, but was not seriously wounded.
It turned out that the suspect has a long history of violent crimes in several states and was free on parole after serving a number of years in a federal prison. He now is facing new charges in Franklin County.
That is just one dramatic example of the dangers deputies face each day.
Over the weekend, a man who was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend on a float trip on the Meramec River fought deputies when they tried to take him into custody. He had to be stunned with a taser gun.
It’s another example of the risks that officers undertake to provide a peaceful society for all of us.
Like others, we’re fed up with all the jabs, both verbal and physical, being taken at police!
It included a variety of voices and data, and explored such uneasy topics as attitudes toward law enforcement among different racial groups. Some of those quoted were positive, and others negative.
The most common complaint was voiced by one emailer today:
“To say that Michael Brown was ‘…the unarmed black 18-year-old shot by white police officer Darren Wilson...’ is like saying Donald Trump is running for president. There is an awful lot that is unsaid. The facts of the Michael Brown shooting should not be ignored.”
I can’t argue with that though Brown’s death was really the taking-off point for the story. It didn’t attempt to recount the incident, which has been done ad nauseum over the past year.
But that goes two ways. Many of the readers I spoke to wanted the story to underline that Michael Brown had been seen on security footage strong-arming a convenience store clerk, and that he had alleged, but unproven, juvenile criminal records.
None of this information is new of course. But on the other hand, telling the “whole story” also means that facts about Darren Wilson that his supporters may be uncomfortable with as well should be included, including details about his attitudes on race from a recent New Yorker interview that many critics have found troubling.
This is one of those news events where I’ve felt readers really end up discussing their feelings about the case, rather than the journalism surrounding it. We all tend to impose good guy/bad guy thinking on these stories, where the truth often is that both sides bore at least some culpability in the outcome.
The one knock against this story and others like it is one I haven’t heard from readers, but I’ve thought myself: People on all sides of the issue are making some pretty big leaps in lumping too many incidents together when they really share very little in common.
The death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of a civilian has very little relationship to the question of others who have died in altercations with police officers. Those are matters of public policy and safety, while Martin’s death — while undeniably tragic — was caused by a private citizen, and really never should have become international news.
And further, the individual cases of other black people while in fights with police or under arrest are themselves disparate. I’ve argued many times that news events aren’t fiction, and there’s no such thing as symbolism or other narratives techniques there. It cheapens each of these people’s stories to weave them into an imaginary storyline, and journalists should be careful about drawing any parallels.
Via: Kansas City Star
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St. Louis County police are investigating a Facebook post in which one of its officers discusses how he spent his “annual Michael Brown bonus.”
The Guardian (http://bit.ly/1LdORpa ) reports that Officer Todd Bakula posted on his Facebook page that he took his wife to a bed and breakfast using money earned for staffing the protests this week in Ferguson, where Brown was fatally shot by a white officer last year.
St. Louis County Sgt. Shawn McGuire told the newspaper that Bakula is a patrolman and the post would be investigated.
He also said the department understands the post is “controversial.”
Ferguson, MO turned once again into a scene of violent race hatred when a man police authorities say opened fire on them on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death was critically wounded when police returned fire. He released a “remarkable amount of gunfire” against the officers using a stolen handgun, explained St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar. That incident occurred shortly after “an exchange of gunfire between two groups” Belmar described as criminals, not protesters. “There is a small group of people out there that are intent on making sure that peace doesn’t prevail,” he said.
So-called “peaceful” protests in Ferguson on Sunday descended into shootings, as well as protesters pelting cops with rocks and bottles. Protestors marking the one-year anniversary of the confrontation between Michael Brown and officer Darren Wilson that resulted in Brown’s death roasted and ate a pig with a policeman’s hat on its head and the words #Darren Wilson scrawled on its body. Make no mistake, the roasted, consumed pig represented more than Darren Wilson, but was a representation of “white” police forces, whom #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) activist view as the enforcers of the white power structure that deliberately oppresses black people. As the protest worn on in Ferguson, people once again engaged in looting a beauty store, police were injured by debris tossed at them, and members of the mob chanted, “We’re ready for what? We’re ready for war.”
On Saturday at Westlake Park in Seattle, WA Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was ultimately driven from the stage when a group of BLM protestors stepped on the podium and took control of the microphone. Sanders was on hand to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Social Security and Medicare. He had begun to deliver his address thanking Seattle for being “one of the most progressive cities in the United States of America.” That was as far as he got before two women strolled onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. One of the two made their intentions clear. “If you do not listen to her, your event will be shut down now,” Sanders was told. After an exchange ensued with screaming protesters, event organizers relented and allowed the demonstrators to proceed.
The largely white crowd was not particularly appreciative, showering the protesters with boos and chants about allowing Sanders to speak. A few urged the police to take control. That was too much for protester Marissa Johnson. “I was going to tell Bernie how racist this city is, filled with its progressives, but you did it for me,” she declared. And true to the racist underpinnings of BLM movement Johnson further insisted the audience was guilty of “white supremacist liberalism.”
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) -- A suspect who authorities say opened fire on officers in Ferguson, Missouri, on the anniversary of Michael Brown's death was critically wounded when the officers shot back, St. Louis County's police chief said early Monday.
Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference that officers had been tracking the suspect, who they believed was armed, during a protest marking the death of Brown, the black, unarmed 18-year-old whose killing by a white Ferguson police officer touched off a national "Black Lives Matter" movement.
The suspect approached the plainclothes officers, who were in an unmarked police van, and opened fire, Belmar said. The officers shot back at him from inside the vehicle and then pursued him on foot when he ran.
The suspect again fired on the officers, the chief said, and all four officers fired back. He was struck and fell.
The suspect was taken to a hospital, where Belmar said he was in "critical, unstable" condition. Authorities didn't immediately release the identities of anyone involved, but Tyrone Harris told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the injured suspect was his son, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr.
The elder Harris told the newspaper shortly after 3 a.m. that his son had just gotten out of surgery.
None of the officers was seriously injured. All four have been put on standard administrative leave. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said.
The shooting happened shortly after a separate incident that the chief called "an exchange of gunfire between two groups" rang out around 11:15 p.m. Sunday while protesters were gathered on West Florissant Avenue, a business zone that saw rioting and looting last year after Brown's killing. The shots sent protesters and reporters running for cover.
The chief said an estimated six shooters unleashed a "remarkable" amount of gunfire over about 45 seconds.
Belmar waved off any notion that the people with the weapons were part of the protest.
"They were criminals. They weren't protesters," he said.
The suspect who fired on officers had a semi-automatic 9 mm gun that was stolen last year from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, according to the chief.
"There is a small group of people out there that are intent on making sure that peace doesn't prevail," he said. "There are a lot of emotions. I get it. But we can't sustain this as we move forward."
Some protest groups were critical of police.
"It was a poor decision to use plainclothes officers in a protest setting because it made it difficult for people to identify police officers, which is essential to the safety of community members," Kayla Reed, a field organizer with the Organization of Black Struggle, said in a statement.
"After a year of protest and conversation around police accountability, having plainclothes officers without body cameras and proper identification in the protest setting leaves us with only the officer's account of the incident, which is clearly problematic."
Early Monday, another reported shooting drew officers to an apartment building in the area. Two males told police they were targeted in a drive-by shooting near the memorial to Brown outside Canfield Apartments. A 17-year-old was shot in the chest and shoulder while a 19-year-old was shot in the chest, but their injuries were not life-threatening, the St. Louis County Police said in a news release.
Separately, police said a 17-year-old suspect has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon and one count of resisting arrest after he fired shots near the protesters late Sunday. He is being held on $100,000 bond.
The anniversary of Brown's killing, which cast greater scrutiny on how police interact with black communities, has sparked days of renewed protests, though until Sunday they had been peaceful and without any arrests.
Before the gunfire, protesters were blocking traffic and confronting police. One person threw a glass bottle at officers but missed.
For the first time in three consecutive nights of demonstrations, some officers were dressed in riot gear, including bullet-proof vests and helmets with shields. Police at one point early Monday shot smoke to disperse the crowd that lingered on West Florissant, Belmar said.
One officer was treated for cuts after a rock was thrown at his face, and two officers were pepper-sprayed by protesters, county police spokesman Officer Shawn McGuire said in an email. Five people were arrested, according to records McGuire released.
Several other peaceful events earlier Sunday were held to mark the anniversary.
Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., led a march through town. It started at the site where Brown was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson. A grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November.
Later, a few hundred people turned out at Greater St. Mark Family Church for a service to remember Brown, with his father joining other relatives sitting behind the pulpit.
Organizers of some of the weekend activities pledged a day of civil disobedience on Monday, but have not offered specific details.
