CAUTION: GRAPHIC VIDEO OF A MURDER
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Good morning:
Police executed Kajiemi Powell in St.Louis on Tuesday. Within 15 seconds of arrival after being called regarding a man who had taken two sodas, the police fired twelve shots in rapid succession, killing Kajiemi Powell. The Guardian reports:
St Louis police have released video and audio recordings of the shooting on Tuesday of Kajieme Powell, a 25-year-old man described as “behaving erratically” and carrying a knife when officers arrived on the scene.
One video, taken by a witness with a phone camera, shows officers opening fire repeatedly within 15 seconds of arriving at the scene. Twelve shots are fired in rapid succession. The fatal encounter added to tensions between St Louis police and the black community, coming amid continuing protests in the locality of Ferguson after police shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old.
Although the video shows an execution, some have called this incident ‘suicide by cop.’ I believe it’s an execution prompted by an attempt to commit suicide.
Police should not be so accommodating.
Contrary to their claim that he had a knife in his hands as he approached the officers, saying, “Shoot me. Shoot me,” Kajiemi Powell appeared not to have anything in his hands.
Powell likely suffered from mental illness and his death speaks to the plight of the mentally ill. Suicide by cop has entered our lexicon because police have been willing accomplices to suicide by the mentally ill.
This is disgraceful and it needs to stop.
Death by gun should not be the default solution to encounters with suicidal people.
For example, why not use existing technology to create a portable inflation device that can instantly be inflated like an airbag to create a barrier to prevent the suicidal person from attacking a police officer.
They also have tasers that can disable from a distance.
Police need to,
Stop. The. Killing.
Police are increasingly being perceived as the enemy because of their willingness and in some cases, enthusiasm to solve potential threats to public safety with lethal gunfire.
If they don’t stop the killing, people are going to start killing them.
Frederick Leatherman Law Blog 
I’m even more in shock by the killing of 25-year-old Kijiemi Powell in the city of St. Louis than that of Michael Brown, who was killed ten days earlier. Police knew what they would be encountering when they arrived (a man who appeared to be having a mental problem), but with his hands at his side, he was shot and killed within 23 seconds of the police’s arrival. Everything was caught on videotape, but the St. Louis city police chief, Sam Dotson, with the backing of the city’s mayor, Francis Slay, claimed the police had no other choice. The local media dutifully reported the official story and not very much more. I can’t believe these officers haven’t been arrested; as far as I know, they haven’t even been disciplined at their job.
Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma Hog-Tied And Injured A Young Child, Lawsuit Alleges
WASHINGTON — A Ferguson police officer who helped detain a journalist in a McDonald’s earlier this month is in the midst of a civil rights lawsuit because he allegedly hog-tied a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mail at the end of his driveway.
According to a lawsuit filed in 2012 in Missouri federal court, Justin Cosma and another officer, Richard Carter, approached a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mailbox at the end of his driveway in June 2010. Cosma was an officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at the time, the lawsuit states. The pair asked the boy if he’d been playing on a nearby highway, and he replied no, according to the lawsuit.
Then, the officers “became confrontational” and intimidated the child, the lawsuit claims. “Unprovoked and without cause, the deputies grabbed [the boy], choked him around the neck and threw him to the ground,” it says. The boy was shirtless at the time, and allegedly “suffered bruising, choke marks, scrapes and cuts across his body.”
The 12-year-old was transferred to a medical facility for treatment, but the lawsuit says Cosma and the other officer reported the incident as “assault of a law enforcement officer third degree” and “resisting/interfering with arrest, detention or stop.”
Jefferson County prosecutors “refused to issue a juvenile case” against the young child, the suit says.
The allegations against Cosma were made in September 2012, shortly after he was introduced as a new officer at a Ferguson City Council meeting. Jefferson County is just south of Ferguson.
Captain Ron Arnhart of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, who is a candidate for sheriff, did not respond to The Huffington Post’s request for comment on the circumstances of Cosma’s departure. Neither Ferguson police spokesman Tom Zoll nor Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson responded to requests for comment.
A dispatcher at the Ferguson Police Department said she would relay a message to Cosma, who was out in the field on Sunday afternoon.
Richard R. Lozano, the lawyer representing the young man in the lawsuit, declined to be interviewed due to the pending claims against Cosma and the other officer. He said he anticipates a trial date early next year. However, Lozano did provide a statement.
“The lawsuit alleges that Justin Cosma and Richard Carter, two deputies with the Jefferson County, Missouri sheriff’s department in 2010, assaulted my client during an encounter on my client’s driveway while his mother was inside their house. My client was 12 years old at the time, shirtless and was not suspected of any criminal behavior. He was checking the mail. The deputies approached my client and the encounter quickly escalated. My client was restrained, choked, thrown to the ground and hogtied by the two deputies. He suffered scrapes and choke marks to his neck. No charges were ever brought against my client. It is my understanding that Justin Cosma is currently an officer with the City of Ferguson,” Lozano wrote.
Cosma was also one of the officers who detained journalists from HuffPost and The Washington Post earlier this month in a local McDonald’s. He declined to give his name or badge number at the time, and has subsequently refused to identify himself to the press. A reader tip allowed HuffPost to match his name and face after the altercation.
While still at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Cosma received an award for dealing with a person in psychiatric crisis, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Cosma isn’t the only officer whose past has received new attention in the wake of the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson. Eddie Boyd III, an officer who faced allegations of hitting children while serving under the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, quietly resigned and sought employment with the Ferguson Police Department. Boyd faced three complaints of physical abuse against children between 2004 and 2006, two of which were dropped. Internal affairs sustained the third complaint against Boyd, saying there was sufficient evidence to support the allegation that he struck a 12-year-old girl in the head with a pistol, and recommended Boyd be fired. The St. Louis police chose to demote him.
Less than a year later, a teenage boy alleged that Boyd hit him in the nose with a gun, and the officer quietly resigned from his role at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. His license was not revoked in the ensuing lawsuit. Boyd was hired by the Ferguson Police Department sometime between July 2009 and December 2010.
St. Ann officer Dan Page, who has been on the force for 35 years, was suspended from duty for inflammatory comments made while addressing the Oath Keepers of St. Louis and St. Charles. Page made racist and sexist remarks, called President Obama an “illegal alien,” denounced hate crime laws and spoke flippantly about violence and killings. The video, uploaded to YouTube in April, was uncovered by CNN after Page pushed anchor Don Lemon on Aug. 18 during demonstrations in Ferguson.
St. Louis County Lt. Ray Albers was also suspended from duty after he threatened civilians in Ferguson, pointing his gun at them and shouting, “I will fucking kill you.” Reporter Joe Biggs was among the group being threatened.
“I can’t believe that that happened in America,” Biggs told HuffPost of the confrontation. “That’s something I’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. In our country? Mind-blowing.”
Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown, joined the Ferguson police after the city council in nearby Jennings disbanded the police department and brought in new officers over three years ago because of the poor relationship between cops and residents, the Washington Post reported.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/justin-cosma-ferguson-police_n_5705409.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013
I can’t find this out:
Was Wilson alone in his car?
Which seat in the car was he in?
Where, before the physical contact (from inside/outside the window/door) occurred, was the car, physically, vis a vis MB?
The eyewitness’s full account which has not changed in any significant way since his first telling, immediately following the killing.
I am beginning to get a feeling of deja vu. I saw someone mention this “some also say they saw him turn around, double back, and charge at the officer”. Phrases like these make me wonder if these stories are sprouting from the same people people who controlled the narrative coming from the right during the Trayvon Martin case. A lot of it is becoming ro sound very familiar.”Almost beaten to death”, “Almost unconscious”,”thug”, “criminal”, “riot”. I even saw one person write about him being “on top of the officer”. Feel free to add your own hyperbole that you have seen applied to both cases ..
Found this great explanation/summary debunking the “bum rush” theory:
In a transparent effort to rebut the devastating evidence from the autopsy, the Ferguson police have tried to explain the trajectory of the final, lethal bullet, claiming that Brown had lowered his head and was charging Officer Wilson (with five bullet wounds in his body, including one to the head!) This story was fed to the media through an unidentified female “friend” of Wilson who called a radio station, after which it was trumpeted as an eyewitness account by CNN and other television networks.
This bogus account is absurd on its face: no 18-year-old African-American man, unarmed, would charge at a policeman pointing a loaded semi-automatic at him, especially one who had already fired a volley of shots. Moreover, the first shot to the head, even though not instantly fatal, would have brought Michael Brown down and made any such “charge” impossible. The second shot to the head, therefore, was delivered by the cop to an incapacitated victim.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/08/19/auto-a19.html
True. I think the wound to the eye put Brown’s head down during the second volley and prompted to try to shield his face. Brady, the most recent witness, Another thing I want to add: I think that Wilson was hit in the face by the car door when he lost grip during the “arm-wrestle” at the vehicle. At this point, could it be assumed that Wilson had already threatened to shoot Brown? and that when Brown slammed the door on Wilson to simply buy himself time to flee. We now know that the “broken eye socket” bullshit wasn’t true. Wilson had a welt of some sort on his face that probably didn’t require immediate treatment.
If Norman Rockwell portrayed scene today
Oops, another Twitter post in moderatoin above.
New Lauryn Hill dedication to Mike Brown
http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2014/08/lauryn-hill-releases-a-chilling-dedication-to-michael-brown-audio/
Ferguson Live Stream here:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9035483/events/3271930
So glad you all are alright!
Lawrence O’Donnell reporting fogencopper did not write/file and incident report. Commentators are blasting FPD for their slipshod, inefficient, downright corrupt practices. Even former law enforcement commentators who counseled “patience for the evidence” are appalled!
Now they’re discussing the legal ramifications and the (defense) benefit to D. Wilson by not being locked into any story, and the ability to tailor his story to the publicized (and secretly passed to him) evidence, and the ability to basically tell the grand jury any story whatsoever, based on they have nothing to compare it to and no rules of evidence.
OMG!!! As a civilian, I am beyond appalled. If I was a member of the legal community I’d be frothing at the mouth.
One commentator is even questioning whether fogencopper may have testified before this grand jury before on another case,and whether they may have already found him credible and issued a warrant? based partly on his testimony – giving them a predisposition to find any story he presents as credible.
Especially in the absence of anything other than (black) witness testimony his to his “tailored to the evidence” story.
Oh yeah, and FPD made sure to release another video today. This one? Fogencopper being given an award for outstanding policemanship (or whatever they called it).
The report released was had no info other than MB’s name and date. Was released due to the ACLU demanding it. Other than the date of the incident the only other date was the day it was generated, Tuesday 8/19, signed off on by both a supervisor and the chief. Legal commentators say all three should be fired, immediately.
Do they not have an IAD?
O’Donnell is interviewing the new male witness that was on CNN last night. Analysis coming up next.
I wish I could get MSNBC. I miss it!
I used to watch CNN until I felt like they became Fox-lite. I think Lou Dobbs was still there when I switched full-time to MSNBC. MSNBC (and Jon Stewart) are my favorite news sources. Though I still watch local news and Brian Williams, just to keep up with world events.
O’Donnell’s really been on fire lately!
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word
You can pick other msnbc programs by deleting /the-last-word and refreshing
Well worth a read. Wish more cops were like this one – and he’s a former cop.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/18/1315081/-A-Cops-take-on-Ferguson
Anderson Cooper is now doing a segment on how eye-witness testimony is the least credible testimony. Again, see my comment above. The testimony of mostly black people who saw the even is not as important as that of a white person. They are waiting and hoping for that one white witness to say their version of events so that they discredit all of the others. The officer is white, so his version of events should suffice and be enough.
that segment was very flawed……the witnesses did NOT disagree at all they all told the SAME story, they each used different words but for saying the same thing……3 said the officer came out and started firing, one of the mentioned he had his gun in his hand when he came out and started firing…….that is NOT any disagreement, the others not mentioning he had his gun in his hand should be expected afterall they said he came out firing to do that REQUIRES the gun be in his hand……that is how lawyers play games creating some expectation that every witness use the exact same words OR their is disagreement among the witnesses………our system is great the people abusing it are HORRIBLE people.
They can’t win. If they had used the exact same words they would have been accused of colluding and being a part of the BGI (or whatever the treehousers call the “black grievance industry”).
Crane-Station here. Ohio:
I was still in high school when this happened and I recall how horrifying it was. And even more horrifying that stuff like this still happens over forty years later.
Kevin Gosztola @kgosztola
People shouldn’t be so accepting of how STL police handled situation & shot & killed Kajieme Powell. (Video: http://bit.ly/1pN55JZ )
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/08/21/reporting-from-ferguson/
This is starting to play out like the fogen trial. MMA fighting Trayvon, nope fogen is the MMA fighter. It would not surprise me if one of the wounds on Michael was the injury they are claiming the officer had. Now I just watched the video from the second shooting, wtf. What happened to meet force with force. I never saw the knife go up in the air liked they claimed. When is enough- enough?
So after Baden said that there was no signs of trauma other than the gunshot wounds, CNN had a woman on their saying that sometimes with darker skinned people, you cannot visible see a bruise. I’m a VERY dark-skinned woman. Still I bruise and it an be seen. they are always coming up with something.
Looting is part of this type of incident.
There is a lot a BS about the Detroit 1967 riots out there. I feel this 16 part radio documentary did a fine job of presenting all sides. It actually interviews people who looted.
A long listen, but worth the time.
I would like to know exactly which businesses in Ferguson were burned and/or looted since the death of Mike Brown. EXACTLY WHICH ONES. I would like to see police reports on those incidents. I frankly don’t trust this vague “businesses were burned and looted” crap. Which businesses? When? By whom?
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/08/10/looters-hit-ferguson-in-wake-of-police-shooting/
I read somewhere that a few blocks in isolated areas were hit. You definitely can’t tell since there’s a no fly zone in effect and we’re not seeing it from bird eye. Strange that I haven’t seen many pictures of the looters, just the protesters.
This is Fogen madness part 2.
My read on the facts is that the officer tried to grab Brown, got a minor blow, got mad and killed Brown as he was fleeing.
I have a legal question because the PD are claiming that the officer was in fear for his life because Brown was coming back.
The eye witness testimony is very solid that the officer started shooting as Brown was fleeing.
Isn’t a murder or an attempt at it determined by the fact situation that existed when the first shot was fired?
In a way, we have a reverse Dunne situation.
The first shots were at a fleeing Brown and the last were at him after he turned.
And, even if we accept that Brown made a charge at the officer after being shot at while retreating, it is my understanding that a self-defense claim would be voided because the acts of the officer initiated the so-called charge.
It’s probably Fogen Madness part 2,744,319 actually. We don’t hear about all the abuses. Only the ones we hear about seem as horrifying; they’re all equally horrifying but we can’t keep up.
The “drug war” was/is a war on African Americans.
And the “police self-defense” actions are acts of war.
Not always against African Americans (even in the drug war itself of course) but always predicated upon the same rules of war and basically for the same reasons.
A federal magistrate in the eastern District of Virginia federal court — his son caught selling several pounds of cocaine — probation. The probation officer was unofficial “uncle/godfather” to the young man. Helped him get it expunged.
This is not about law and order. It is about dominance, white supremacy, and evasion of the 13th amendment (as well as 9 out of 10 of the amendments in the bill of rights).
BTW, black businesses in Ferguson have had to “quarter troops” in violation of the Third Amendment.
Back when I lived in Detroit in a mixed neighborhood, we called the War on Drugs the War on Blacks. The reason being that John Law would come down like a ton of bricks on any black person with drugs, yet the 24/7 drug selling home that was next to ours would never bust one of the endless stream of white suburban kids going in and out of there. And the white “good people” who I would tell this to said I was just making up BS. Well, maybe 30 years later, at least a few more eyes are opening.
Another sad tale.
A regular who came in to the store I worked at was a stone cold psycho. He was a wormy white guy who had a Pilipino wife who was always quiet in his presence. Anyhow, they found the wife strangled and wired to a cyclone fence by the home they lived in. We all knew who did it. But the PD, who at that time were whites who patrolled the 16th precinct, but lived out in the burbs amongst “the good people” {gee isn’t the MO of the officer who shot Brown?) arrested a middle aged black man who had a street name of “Old Man Moses”. We called him that because he was a bit eccentric, but harmless, had a shock of white hair and beard, and carried a staff-like tree branch that he used to ward of Detroit’s notorious stray dogs. Anyhow, the real murderer was able to beat it out of town while the police fiddled about.
The USA is a tale of two cities.
One that buys cop BS hook, line and sinker and another that gets shit on.
The CIA under the directorship of GHWB brought in the cocaine using the Bush ship the Barbara and the Arbusto Oil Co of GWB. The CIA covered south central LA with the drugs. Then the war started to get rid of the drugs, but not before many were addicted and killed. The drugs ruined individuals and families. Then the cops came in.
While running for Vice President in 1980, Poppy Bush also persuaded the Iranians to hold on to the US Embassy hostages until after the election to assure Reagan-Bush would beat Carter.
About as sleazy as sleazy gets.
Self-defense will always be judged based on the totality of the circumstances as they appeared to the officer at the time.
Was it reasonably necessary for the officer to use deadly force to prevent imminent death or serious injury?
When multiple shots are fired, the circumstances can change. What may start out as a reasonably necessary use of deadly force can change, if the victim is disabled by shots and unable to return fire (unarmed). Finishing him off is no longer self-defense.
Two Sides kindly provided us with the url for the Lawrence O’Donnell slice-and-dice of the NYTimes for their appallingly atrocious murder-support-team coverage of the Michael Brown killing (see above) and guess the Hell what: Thank you Frances Robles. AGAIN. YOU provided us with the pro-Fogen report that got echoed over a thousand times on the Internet before the youngster’s body was cold. YOU are here again providing cover and cover-up and LIES LIES LIES for a (this time) police murder in the service of the white supremacy war: read this about the NY Times disgrace story.
Now, I don’t believe that Frances Robles was just lazy. Not after I nailed her inaccuracy by FOIA’ing the real info. in the Trayvon Martin case, and writing to her to correct the misperception, and getting a “F-YOU” response from her highness the liar who buys her ink by the barrel. No. I don’t believe she was lazy. She is quite simply a white supremacy support team member masquerading as an unbiased journalist. SHAME ON HER and may she reap the rewards of her evil behavior. Ten times over.
Ten times ten. What a weasel.
I also wanted to add there were no fractures and it took three days for my eye to open.
Ooch.
I recently received a head injury to the tune of $15,000 to put it in perspective.
My eye swelled shut within minutes and the left side of my face was black. It goes into “colors” rather than looking like it is swelling. People get black eyes or bruises but I think referencing swelling is an odd description. Also, it would be a CT scan of the head for any bone damage or fracturing so if someone said, “his CT scan shows a fracture” or “does not show a fracture” but the x-ray thing is old school and not as revealing. This raises the question of what part of his face was swollen?
I am sure we have all seen people with facial injuries and it is red or black and blue but swollen relates to puffy or a toothache look, so these descriptions do not seem to fit with any injury happening to his face or the repeated wrong information about it. I do hope they photographed his “injuries” rather than just refer to them and the photos would be evidence, but doubtful to me as I couldn’t even see out of that side of my face within minutes.
The orbital fracture story is falling apart – nothing to substantiate it.
http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/21/6054237/source-to-cnn-darren-wilson-didnt-have-a-fractured-eye-socket
Don’t worry: within a few days a picture will surface taken by some cop’s cell phone and transferred onto his hard drive and then forgotten and then printed out and the original lost and it will show Wilson looking like he went ten rounds with Muhammed Ali. And he will have PTSD and gain 100 pounds.
ali’s reply to that comment….i float like a butterfly but sting like a bee, aint nobody that sly to last 10 rounds with ME…..i am the greatest and PRETTY too
yes but Ali DID float a butterfly and sting like a bee . Did anyone last 10 rounds with him? He was the greatest and a very handsome man.
yes he lost a few…ken norton broke his jaw in the second round and they fought the hole 15 rounds……joe frazier beat him also, he lost 4 years in the prime of his life because of the draft dodging nonsense….he talked to his opponents alot..asking ernie terrell whats my name? george foreman said after i beat on that old man for 5 rounds he looked me in the eye and said “is that all you got george” foreman said i thought YES CHAMP that is all i got, then he kicked my butt all around that ring.
Ali took a punch from Frazier in the 15th round of the first fight that would have KO’ed most boxers. And that punch caused Ali’s face to swell up real bad after the fight. Ali had everything – skill, stamina, a way to get in the other fighters head, and the ability to take a punch.
Nah, just let some blood from a superficial facial wound run down and dribble on his shirt and the center-liberals who claim they are not racist will think Wilson was a few minutes away from hemorrhagic shock, thus making Wilson’s claim reasonable, just like they did with their hero – George Zimmerman.
I swear to God, some of the stupidity that Zimmerman defenders came up with respect to that cell phone photo has lived up to that great line from Dorfmann:
“Mr. Towns, you behave as if stupidity were a virtue. Why is that?”
You know I am sick of CNN saying that there are varying witnesses with different accounts. Actually, there are several witnesses with different vantage points providing the SAME account.
Unfortunately, I have a relative whoI live with who says the same thing. Driving me nutz. Not fun to listen to.
You have witnesses, no all who knew Michael Brown, who were in different areas, had different vantage points, who took video from different angles. They all say that Michael Brown ran away. They all say when he ran away, the officer began shooting. They all say they thought that Mike Brown was hit when he ran away. As a result, they all say Mike Brown turned around with his hands raised. They all say that Mike Brown was then shot multiple times. Then they all say that Mike Brown DID NOT “bum-rush” the officer. The video shows Brown laying 35 ft away. Where are these varying witness accounts?
The dog whistlers are fond of saying you can have your own opinion but not your own facts, but they seem to be creating quite a few facts right now. Will be interesting to see how these facts are filtered through the MB grand jury.
The real dog whistle is that nothing a black person says matters. The 4 witnesses that we know of that have similar accounts are all black. Yet, a white woman, who was NOT there, but who claims to be giving the officers account, is being taken into consideration. So a white person’s word is better than a black person’s word.
The facts will not be filtered through the MB grand jury. Because of McCullough, the Grand Jury will not be required to hear or deal with any facts.
as i understand it there could be charges filed right now no need for any grand jury hearing….BUT when you want to HIDE the FACTS a grand jury is REQUIRED because it provides the needed secrecy…..
Yeah, unfortunately you’re all right. I’m hoping for something better to emerge. I should probably be more cynical.
I have a legal question regarding the amount of shots (in both shootings, but more specifically the latest one, since we have footage):
The footage clearly shows two “extra” shots (probably there were 8-10 extra shots, and as we all can agree on, every single was unnecessary).
These two additional shots were unloaded while the victim was clearly incapable of attacking. He may have already been dead.
Can the excess amount of shots be cause for first-degree murder? Even if you believe that they needed to shoot the victim to save lives, were a dozen shots necessary? Were two extra shots while the victim lay prone the ones that killed him rather than incapacitated him?
I feel like you can just about shoot anyone dead now, even execution style, if you just say there was some fear or danger.
Can the excessive shots be used against these thug cops? Or will they get off because he had a knife and 9-11 was called?
Can the excessive shots be used against these thug cops? Or will they get off because he had a knife and 9-11 was called?
You ask excellent questions, but the quick answer to your question is, “No.”
The rule is they must stop shooting once the suspect has been disabled and the threat is over, but it isn’t enforced.
http://news.msn.com/us/supreme-court-case-to-shape-ferguson-investigation
The NYPD shot Abadu Diallo 40+ times while he was trying to retrieve his ID as demanded by plain clothes cops. cops were charged, venue changed to Albany, cops walked. In an interesting bit of theater, the prosecuting DA who was put front and center was Black. Race wasn’t mentioned in the prosecution.
I remember it all too well. It’s probably one of the reasons I am here at this site today.
the skin head professor explained that, he said they do NOT shoot to kill they ONLY shoot to “stop the threat” but when asked about shooting in the leg he said NO vital organs there, so they are NOT shooting to “kill” the person they are only shooting with the intent of “stopping” the threat by shooting them somewhere that will KILL THEM………..in other words we do not shoot to kill we shoot to stop a threat and the only way to stop the treat is to KILL them but again we do NOT shoot to kill.
And O’Donnell skewering NY Times about MB witnesses:
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/lawrence-odonnell-rips-new-york-times-lazy
TS – O’Donnell is about to reply to the NYTimes response last night’s rewrite. Are you watching?
Here is the Don Lemon interview!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/talib-kweli-don-lemon_n_5698078.html
I finally got it to play for me – WOW! Don Lemon got embarrassed. Maybe next time he’ll mind his manners…
It seems every lie FPD puts out blows up
That will not hurt them. Every lie Fogen told, we all guffawed and cheered and said, “He’ll never get away with this shit” and then, it all evaporated because “he learned his lesson” and after all “his heart was in the right place” — yeah, his heart was in a place where hollow-point bullets weren’t gonna tear it up; his heart was in a white man’s chest.
True
Still waiting for the kids he mentored to appear……
Fogen’s probably getting a good dose of the old adage that “the path to hell is paved with good intentions” and it’s certainly well-deserved.
Wilson had x-rays at hospital. X-Rays came back negative on broken eye socket.
Some media had already reported a broken eye socket, happy to hear that so maybe some of the right winger will shut up about it.
They’ll try anything…..smh
I was skeptical of that report after seeing the video of him walking around Michael Brown’s body, immediately following the shooting. He gave no indication at all of having been beaten “nearly unconscious” or having sustained any sort of severe injury to his eye. He never even raised his hand to his face in a way that said, “Damn, this hurts.”
Do you have a link to that information on the x-ray’s being negative? Thanks.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/08/21/nr-lemon-grace-officers-broken-eye-socket-claim-false.cnn.html
Thanks for the link.
Great catch!
Muchas gracias.
FPD taped off public gov’t building. Refused entrance to female, AA elected official and others, there to drop off petitions requesting recusal of DA. Situation gets tense as official continues to demand to be allowed to enter a public building, and FPD refuse.
Official walks away. Others continue to engage FPD. Finally, FPD relents, “allows” official and one other to enter public building to deliver petitions.
WTF!!! FPD doesn’t even make a pretense of following the law anymore. Closing public buildings? Refusing access to duly elected officials? On whose authority? FPD has gone past militarization and straight into a (what did Malisha call it?) neofeudalistic fiefdom.
FPD does not believe in the first amendment
It believes in the second, though.
Only if you are white
Rapper Talib Kweli is arguing with Don on CNN. WTH happened?
Video of Anderson Cooper and new witness, Michael (the one I talked about in update above).
What do y’all think of his story?
That testimony shows that the bullet in the top of the head was due to Brown being shot as he was crumpling to the pavement.
One thing I have read is that a penetrating wound can cause a shock reaction due to pain wherein one goes down. It could very well be that the multiple arm wounds sent Brown into shock.
We also, at this time, do not know if the arm wound severed a major artery. That will also set of shock in a person standing.
All witnesses confirm that Brown was being shot at as he was fleeing.
Is that act, in and of itself, a crime?
I know it is for J Q Citizen.
I
I think his story is basically the same theory the Prof posited a coupe days ago, before this account came out. When he said something about MB looking down and dropping to his knees. That was the first thing I thought of when I heard this.
Talib Kweli is schooling Don Lemon. Wow!
sure did…….amazing how some media refuse to LISTEN….when you are interrupting the speaker you are NOT listening.
When will people learn not to listen to the mouthpiece of Corporate America? There are many different avenues for getting the complete news these days, without the conservative slanting or re-writing of news events. Fuck CNN.
Lol that’s what I say about Fox.
i watch both and find they both refuse to deal with the scientific FACTS…….NOT one person on TV has pointed out the CLEAR contradiction in the officers story…..he says brown started rushing at him from 35 feet from his car, and the body was found right WHERE he claims the bumrush BEGAN…media keeps reporting this story ignoring the simply OBVIOUS contradiction.
So true. CNN is pathetic. They are not worthy of viewing any more. Especially after they hired Mark Omara.
Wth he is going cray on Don and CNN…
I bet they won’t replay that interview. LOL!
CNN has pushed in on the video to get it closer. It’s slightly distorted, but a better view.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/08/21/ac-st-louis-shooting-video.cnn.html
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/08/21/ac-st-louis-shooting-video.cnn.html
Does anyone know why this isn’t embedding, or can someone embed it for me?
I searched CNN to find that video, but couldn’t. So I went to youtube instead:
It won’t let you zoom on youtube. The cnn version gives better view of the minute before firing squad killed him.
What is clear as a bell to me is that this man never raised up a hand with a knife in a striking position, thus absolutely proving that the police report lied.
So why should anyone believe anything in the police report that sometime before Hell freezes over will be released with respect to the killing of Brown?
Worth a read. He’s got issues.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/little-trail-of-ferguson-police-officer-behind-the-gun/article_6dc02633-19c6-5fef-8b34-f2e8237ab13f.html
The edited for TV video is here, but I’m posting for the 911 calls that brought the police, and dispatch audio that is embedded at the bottom.
“Officer was in fear for his life” is nonsense. He comes up in a squad car. Guy’s basically wandering around with a steak knife. “Shoot me, shoot me now” is being spoken by someone either half out of his mind or someone referring to police brutality. Since he WAS armed and he WAS only a few feet from the officer, of course, this one HAS to go down as “self-defense” or “justifiable homicide” but really, it was NOT. I counted 9 shots.
I will bet Powell’s blood alcohol level or some other chemical mind-altering drug present in his blood was relevant in this case, but we haven’t heard a thing about it. He looked drunk to me. And I used to tend bar and I have kicked out many a drunk without so much as a scratch on me to show for it.
The police are just out of control. They would be prosecuted by military courts (courts martial) if they were American soldiers who shot citizens in the streets of another country as these cops are shooting citizens of Missouri. And there would be an outcry by the UN, etc., and rightfully so. Imagine if the Israeli occupying forces in their territories (that really WERE war zones) were daily picking off unarmed or knife-wielding residents and shooting them 6, 7, 9 times in “self-defense.”
And the mayor Dotson saying a taser could have missed Powell and then injured one of his officers in response to the question, why couldn’t a taser be used? Ya know instead of shooting him 9 times…..who says that? These mayors are DAF.
I agree, and as a another former bartender – cosign!
Nef,
Read that fox article, now he’s blaming the jacket Powell was wearing….smh
Right.and for me the jacket argument is no more reasonable than the 100% argument. You can’t justify using a gun because a taser isn’t 100%. If that was the case, tasers are useless.There’s no reason to have them and no reason to have ever used them, and that’s simply not true. Also, true for the jacket. Does it hold true for a hoodie, a sweater, a plain shirt? So you can only use them against someone who is has no clothes on their torso, or have such great aim you can hit a person in the arm in shortsleeve/tank?
AND, if you’re such a great shot with a taser, shouldn’t you be at least as good a shot with a lethal weapon like say..a gun?
Living in Detroit, we have a love/hate relationship with our PD. Nevertheless, our PD is representative, and if they don’t live here they generally have friends and family who do. While I knew about the murders of Grant, Garner, Crawford, Brown, etc. actually seeing them on video is disturbing at a level I’m having difficulty processing, even though I’m not surprised.
So I guess you have to be naked and really close up now or they can’t use the tazer. They sure have been using tazers liberally for quite a few years now. Next excuse please.
If a man had to be naked to avoid a taser from any of these officers, then 99.9% would be shot out of envy.
Heh.
one comment about this area of discussion some white guys CAN jump.
They don’t use the tazers until they have three or four cops on the victim. More tazing once the cuffs are on.
A taser made a dandy murder weapon for Manuel Ramos while smashing Kelly Thomas’s face in Fullerton, CA, 2011.
Malisha said this yesterday:
I agree with her, and I don’t think it’s even a question of “if” anymore. I think the only questions left are “when” and “where”.
Omg. Thanks for sharing this.
6 shots from each officer. 12 shots. And those cops have very little experience.
He explains the “department training of 21ft”
Wow.
We have discussed how the “bum rush” smear is an illogical lie, propagated by the police and the right wing, and how it is being used as a racist dog whistle.
Here is why “did he or did he not him rush?” SHOULD BE irrelevant, in a same world:
1. It’s excessive. If you’re being assaulted, attacked, “bum rushed”, use your police training to subdue the perpretrator. Presumably you have been trained to arrest suspects who are violent, without having to shoot them.
2. You’ve already eliminated self defense. You’re shooting at someone unarmed. Who is 35 feet away. You have a gun, they don’t. They’re charging aggressively toward you? Because you are shooting them, dummy, and in a few moments, a few more bullets, they will be dead. You have a gun, they have the capability to “bum rush”. It’s no longer self defense when you’ve already incapacitated someone with several bullets.
Again, legally the cop will probably skate.
But in a sane and moral world, this is disgusting behavior.
In a sane world, it is a war crime.
The cops have basically been engaging in war against African Americans for many many decades; for a while they had to pretend that there was a cease fire but that was for show.
I believe the second shooting can and should be argued similarly.
Wilson’s attorney profile page. Greg K.
http://slcpa.org/member-benefits/legal-aid/
I doubt Greg Kloeppel is sufficiently qualified to represent Wilson.
He appears to offer some basic legal services for cops. This is a form of legal aid for cops where the SLCPA pays for the assistance out of member dues.
Since Wilson could potentially be charged with murder, he should retain an experienced criminal defense attorney.
I was thinking the same. Is this who they have access to during investigation only because he’s with FoP. Who assigns which lawyer they get?
Also, what is difference between a sitting grand jury and a empaneled ? Is there a difference?
Wilson is being represented by Greg Koeppel, a lawyer with the local Fraternal Order of Police, but grand juries do not normally hear directly from counsel for those whose actions are under review.
I was thinking the same. Is this who they have access to during investigation only because he’s with FoP. Who assigns which lawyer they get?
Klepple could represent him or assign another lawyer to do it, but he needs someone more experienced, unless the fix is in.
Also, what is difference between a sitting grand jury and a empaneled ? Is there a difference?
A grand jury consists of 16-23 people who meet in secret, typically once per week or once per month for an extended period of time, to decide whether probable cause (i.e., reasonable grounds) exists to believe that someone committed a particular crime.
Federal grand juries last for 18 months.
Prosecutors call witnesses and present evidence to a grand jury. The rules of evidence do not apply, so hearsay, irrelevant and inadmissible opinion evidence can be admitted. A court reporter is present and the proceedings are recorded. No judge is present and the witnesses are not permitted to have counsel present.
The word “empaneled” is used to refer to a 6 or 12 person jury that has been selected and sworn in by the judge. That term is not used when referring to a grand jury.
Wilson is being represented by Greg Koeppel, a lawyer with the local Fraternal Order of Police, but grand juries do not normally hear directly from counsel for those whose actions are under review.
They never hear from counsel who represent a target (major), subject (minor) or a witness.
He won’t need one. He will only need a parrot or a myna bird to say, over and over again, “bum rush bum rush bum rush — ssquawk shriek yekkkkkk — bum rush bum rush bum rush — race card race card — bum rush.” The prosecutor and the judge will do the rest for him. He can just collect the fee and get the awards.
The persons who called the police on this man knew what they were doing, and what they were about to witness.
I’m not sure about that. I would have thought, had I been a citizen in St. Louis, that the police would not DARE shoot another non-dangerous Black man at this point in time, and I would have thought they were interested in showing how good they were to protect and serve. I believe Powell’s “go ahead and shoot me” verbiage related to the fact that it is beyond imagination that the cops would pull another all-out-psycho-crime like that so soon after they come under national scrutiny for killing people at the drop of a hat (or a donut).
Every time you call the police on a Black person in Ferguson—-especially in Ferguson—knowing the mindset and take-no-prisoners tactics of that particular police department; you are signing the death warrant of that Black person.
I believe the smaller man in the red striped shirt and ball cap is the person from the store who made the call. If you watch the outside surveillance video, you can see him follow Mr. Powell out of the store after the second shoplifting (of the honey bun.) He and Mr. Powell had some sort of verbal exchange. It seems he stayed outside in anticipation of the police’s arriving, maybe to identify himself as the caller. I don’t think he expected to witness them killing the shoplifter.
as the chief explained the law IF you get within 21 feet of an officer and you have ANYthing with a sharp edge the officer can use deadly force at that time………he basically said IF you come near any officer they MAY use deadly force as they decide…..hand in your pocket and too close = deadly force.
That’s why I have a hard time with people who fawn over them for being brave.
When I worked in a liquor/party store, I got into some heated arguments with guys who had knives, were massively muscled, or had guns – and I was paid that great minimum wage. And our store did not have any bullet proof glass to hide behind.
What did I learn to survive?
Keep your cool.
Stand your ground and be firm, but polite.
And never insult the other person.
What I have found is that a man who can face danger wherein he is at a disadvantage gets respect.
And I might add that the death rate per 100,000 for a cop is the same as a construction worker – about 14/100,000.
Being a black male is 32/100,000.
If I could stand the heat without a gun, then so can they. Time for them to patrol, on foot, sans gun, but with a night stick, so the 30 extra pounds of lard they seem to all carry goes away. And they would get to know their community. I mean the video shows me that the locals knew this man as someone who was a bit off, but not a big threat. One guy walks close by and goes on like nothing much to see there. The cops, on the other hand, react like this guy is some sort of black Samurai warrior who could lop off their heads in the blink of an eye – so blam, blam, blam, it was.
God, it is sad.
I would be brought up on charges if I shot another persons dog because it growled at me.
For truly dire situations, the cops could bring in back up that is armed with guns.
To me, a patrol officer should be the same as recon in the military. They assess a situation and provide intelligence back to HQ. And HQ decides on whether or not to bring in heavy ordinance.
The chief is lying or mistaken.
An officer’s use of deadly force must necessarily be judged based on the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time of the shooting and the reasonableness of his conduct.
The department may have a 21-foot rule or policy, but it cannot be an outcome determinative legal rule because there are no “bright line” rules like that when it comes to the use of deadly force.
People and cops do not carry tape measures with them and it will not always be reasonable to use deadly force within 21 feet.
Besides, how can anyone determine whether an object has a sharp edge from 21 feet.
What if a suspect is innocent, unarmed and he has his hands in his pockets because the ambient temperature is below freezing?
ty for that…the chief clearly said whenever you enter that 21 foot zone the officer IS authorized to use deadly force……he made NO mention of any other circumstance, the 21 foot rule was because a sharp edge could be thrown from that distance, but that isnt what he said, he said just getting that close to an officer makes deadly force legal.
Bill read that fox article nef posted, talks about 21ft rule. It’s a department thing they tell those officers.
ty, just read it……they left out the part i saw IF it was an interview with the same guy…….he explained that part about the knife and 21 feet BUT also said you never know what they have in their pockets, which i took to mean they dont have to see a weapon at all just a person in their 21 feet “space”……that is how i read his comments.
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/25435-prosecutor-stalls-for-time-in-michael-brown-case
Eric Holder tried to address it this morning during his live press conference.
I agree that this was an execution. Cops have absolutely no imagination as well as no regard for any lives but their own.
Bettykath, I think in both the Mike Brown killing and the K[sp?] Powell killing, ANGER on the cops’ part was the most significant issue. Long, hot summer for the police. ANGRY. Ready to kill somebody; why not make it an African American whom anyone can then slander and blame for his own death? Most of these cops have learned that they can’t just go home and beat up the Missus or kick the dog — VAW and SPCA are watching. Where is the outlet for their justifiable RAGE at being so victimized as white men/LE agents? Surely we can understand their frustration!
Malisha, I understand everything but your last sentence. I think they are using all that anger to help them follow orders.
I know of someone who stood in his door with a rifle. cops were called. He was attempting suicide by cop. Cops talked him down. Arrested him for his own protection and the protection of others.
UPDATES FOR ALL
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson : The officers acted appropriately. On why a taser was not an option, “Tasers aren’t 100%, if that taser misses that subject continues on and hurts an officer.”
Excerpts of Ferguson Mayor, James Knowles speaking to CNN’s Chris Cuomo in a room with hundreds of ‘I LOVE Ferguson’ signs behind Mayor. GAG.
Mayor: “It was uncovered for a while and there were a lot of pictures of that.”
Chris: “That’s right.”
Mayor: “But as soon as they got an ambulance there they did cover it for awhile and then put up the screens. Um, it was left out there for awhile. And that…and that in it of itself is just horrifying.”
Chris: “You say IT, you mean HE.”
Mayor: You’re right…the body…the gentleman.”
Mayor: “He is an officer…the officer that had this unfortunate incident…he was performing his duty as a law enforcement officer. Now you can call into question on whether or not he was outside the bounds of the duty of his office. Was he, did he act with….”
Chris: “excessive force”
Mayor: excessive force but that’s in question. The officer is always in the position to use force……….”
“But I think we have to get the evidence, get the information and let…allow due process. I think this officer needs to be afforded that as well.”
New witness:
Michael Brady spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Summary: Friend came over and it woke him up from a nap at 11:30am. He steps outside with the friend for 3-5 minutes. Goes back inside speaks to fiance in kitchen. Heads to bedroom and two minutes later he hears an altercation, looks out window, sees someone standing at window of vehicle. Officer inside vehicle. He did see a tussle at window. Dorian was standing in front of the “police cruiser” on the bumper side on the passenger side but 5 feet away from it. They take off running. Says there was a parked car next to sidewalk 5 feet from the police cruiser that was in the middle of the street. MB runs directly down middle of street. There was a car parked on the sidewalk…The Ferguson cop, his vehicle was in the middle of the street diagonal. They take off running. Officer gets out and immediately starts shooting. Says MB was probably about 20 feet away by then still running. Says he sees Dorian behind car near trunk “looking up at the cop just to see where he’s at” but when when officer gets out, he let’s out 1 or 2 shots. But at that time he’s already past his own police vehicle and past the vehicle where Dorian was. Witness thinks officer knew Dorian was by the car…Witness says it showed him that he wasn’t shooting at his friend. Witness says he noticed he still has his back turned and noticed he passed his friend up. So that’s when he decided to run outside to see what he could get. By the time he makes it outside, MB was facing the officer. He’s balled up, has arms under his stomach and he was halfway down like he was going down and the officer lets out 3-4 shots at him. Says he took pictures of body and MB’s hands were under body and that’s how he got shot. Brady demonstrates in front of Anderson Cooper how MB went down- arms crossed tucked in. Said it didn’t look like MB was giving up. Says MB took 2 steps towards officer and 3-4 shots fired. When asked about a shot during tussle at window, “Quite a few people say they heard a shot go off in the car. He says, “I definitely did not hear that.”
Tiffany Mitchell (Wilson shot at MB as soon as he exited vehicle); Piaget Crenshaw (video, says MB ran away and Wilson continued shooting); Dorian Johnson (after chase, MB turned around with hands up. Says MB shot from police vehicle and saw blood); Michael Brady (took pics, says MB had arms crossed and tucked not hands up and says MB took 2 steps towards Wilson); “Josie” the radio caller relaying Wilson’s side (MB shoved Wilson into vehicle and he fired in self defense, says MB bum rushed).
Then an unknown witness at scene who was shooting video and talking to someone else in video. Witness in video: ‘The next thing I know I think he’s missing (inaudible) started running, kept towards police.”
Dorian’s lawyer spoke to Cuomo and he referred to police vehicle as a car (not truck). Cuomo implies how can officer reach out and grab neck when MB is 6’4, lawyer says it’s “unmanageable.” Lawyer also says rellos were in hands.
FYI: Eric Holder spoke to public LIVE at 9:30am ET “My commitment to them is long after this tragic story no longer receives this level of attention, the Justice Department will stand with Ferguson…”
It will take time. Doesn’t mean this should drag on. Will try to be expedient as can but it’s most important to get it right and that means thoroughness and completeness is what will be emphasized. After briefing by FBI and Prosecutors, says significant process has been made.
Has said the FBI has now interviewed more than 100 people that have accounts on what happened that day.
The witness did not see everything he left, when he gets back MB is balled up arms under stomach going down where he got shot….how does he come to the conclusion that MB did not have his hands up he left and that he was not giving up but basically describes him falling down after being shot. Another witness say’s MB stumbled.
i guess the family is lucky the officer wasnt too close or blood splatter could have gotten on him and the police could then SUE browns family for destruction of police property.
Oh, Lawrence O’Donnell has a video of Michael Brady explaining why he said “it did not look like MB was giving up” he did not mean he was bum-rushing.
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word.
Then go to this video: Rewrite: Bad Police Reporting by the NYTimes.
it is becoming clear in the shooting this week in st louis the “lunging” towards police as shown on the video was him FALLING forward after they shot him…….and this new witness is saying the same thing brown FELL forward after being shot = BUMrushing the officer(not the witness saying that since he clearly said NO bumrushing happened).
I watch full interview with him and Anderson Cooper. It was not edited. I sat there and typed a transcript basically.
I won’t bother to next time.
Please do continue to take the time and effort to transcribe what was said.
I appreciate it.
The NY Times article was quoting the police not Michael Brady. Michael Brady say’s MB was already going down with his arms across his body when the last shots were fired and that he took two steps foward he was not running but stumbling and falling foward. I guess they will sue the Brown’s….I get a bad feeling the fix is in. I hope the DOJ can do something.
That’s what I said in the update I provided. I provided Michael Bradley’s words.
Thank you J4T
Thank you for updating us with that information.
having seen the interview they did a great job of putting into print what was said.
Thanks for this writeup.
Prof
When CNN showed the 1-2 minute parts of video you can see the knife in his right hand with the blade facing away.
The Kijiemi Powell killing, in my opinion, was NOT a suicide by cop that the police were “only too willing to assist.” To me, Powell was taunting the police with “Shoot me shoot me mofo’s” because he was referring to the Mike Brown killing. He was saying, in effect, “Oh so here come these upstanding righteous white cops ready to punish me for taking a donut and they’re part of a murderous lawless society and here they are in my face for NOTHING” but he didn’t realize that the reality of the situation is not just “everybody knows how badly these bullies misbehave,” but it really is:
THESE MOFOS WILL REALLY KILL YOU FOR NOTHING.
THEY * HATE * YOU
THEY * ARE * LOOKING * FOR * ANY * EXCUSE * TO * KILL * YOU.
Hey, African American, whoever you are, wherever you are:
BELIEVE IT.
I think, from the standpoint of a screenwriter, the nutty guy saying “shoot me shoot me mofo’s” is saying, “I actually cannot believe you will shoot me.”
He lost that bargain.
That’s my take on it.
To me, the message from the police is this:
DO NOT CHALLENGE OUR AUTHORITY.
WE HAVE NO PROBLEM KILLING YOU in cold blood.
We expect we will get away with whatever we choose to do to you. We can always find an excuse, after the fact.
You are presumed guilty.
We are not just presumed innocent, we are immune to blame.
DO NOT DISS US.
WE WILL KILL YOU.
(HEIL)
Agreed, Malisha
Just as Fogen wanted to kill, so do many police officers. Cryin’ shame.
I’ve watched the entire video several times, with the volume up so I could try to hear what the victim was saying.
I don’t think he was necessarily mentally disturbed, as in crazy. I think this might have been a political statement, not unlike monks who self-immolate.
The store surveillance videos show that he made no effort to conceal the fact that he was walking out without paying for items, and that he expected to be seen. He even went back in and took another item, right in front of the cash register, when it seemed no one noticed he took the two cans from the cooler.
He knew someone was taking a video of him. He carefully placed the two sodas he’d taken from the convenience store at the curbside, where they’d be clearly visible to anyone, including the police who drove up. He walked back and forth in front of the sodas, as if waiting for the police to arrive. He yelled at the people near him to get back, stay away, that he was “tired of this shit.”
When the officers drove up, they got out of their car with their guns already drawn and pointed at him. At that point, he presented no direct threat to them in any way, shape or form. He didn’t run at them. He took a couple of steps forward, telling them to shoot him. He didn’t say he was going to kill them. He just kept saying, “Shoot me! Shoot me!” He even seemed aware enough of his surroundings to have purposely repositioned himself to put the bystanders out of the line of fire. He never “drew a knife” (not that’s visible, anyway) or raised his arm brandishing it in an “overarm grip” or advanced within three feet of the officers. They shot him when he was at least ten feet from them, with his arms at his sides. By my count, they shot him nine times.
I hope he didn’t die in vain. I think he knew *exactly* what the police response would be to a call from a convenience store of a minor offense (taking sodas and donuts without paying) by a young black man. I think he wanted to show the world that the Michael Brown incident probably happened just the way the majority of the witnesses say it happened.
This is an intense video. It does show a man being killed. I’m really shocked that it hasn’t gotten much more “play” on the news outlets. Maybe they are too tunnel-visioned, following their own stories as they have them laid out, to realize what this might reveal. In any case, it without a doubt shows two police officers responding to a minor theft with guns drawn, making no effort at all to defuse the situation before killing the man.
CNN shows 2 minutes of video and you can see him pull out knife. It was in his right hand, blade facing away. Police yelled dropped the knife several times. You can’t see it in the 6 minute video because the screen is small.
J4TMin, I just watched the CNN coverage video and do see what appears to be a knife. So you’re right on that.
However, the officer who drove the vehicle got out while simultaneously raising his firearm at the suspect, who at that point did not have the knife out of his pocket.
So at the moment they arrived and exited their vehicle with at least one gun drawn, all they had was a young black male yelling, “Shoot me!” with his hands at his side.
i saw the skin head “professor” claiming when the guy took the higher ground that gave him a “tactical advantage” over the officers……reality is the guy clearly looked behind him and moved to his left to get the onlookers out of the line of fire……and it is rather silly to claim 2 people holding their weapons already aimed at him are at some “tactical” disadvantage………
Have any of these guys ever been in the military or around people who have? I mean the shit they pull out of their ass is, quite frankly, pathetically stupid.
A has a knife
B and C have guns
What is the best option for A?
1) Run to cover
2) Seek an exposed high point wherein B and C have a clear line of fire at you.
Apparently, the next Napoleon Bonaparte el Baldo III, feels 2 is the right choice.
And what the victim did violates the desperate rush a gun run from a knife rule that is taught for close combat. That little wall put him in a position where that option was taken off of the table.
What was the right thing to do?
Keep the victim occupied via talk or other actions until back up could arrive to surround him.
Thank you.
I did not see that.
I still question the use of deadly force.
When the patrol car arrived, the victim backed away from it. It was not until the officer driving got out of the vehicle with his gun already trained on him that Mr. Powell moved several steps toward the patrol car and started yelling, “Shoot me!”
One can only speculate what the outcome may have been if the officers had taken even fifteen seconds to assess the situation before assuming that deadly force — shooting a man at least nine times — was their only response.
Driver/officer got out of the car with his service weapon drawn. They’d already decided a taser was not an option they were going to try to use.
Well said Lady. I have nothing to add.
Motor City Lady – Thank you for sharing that powerful perspective.
http://www.blacktalkradionetwork.com/tag/kajieme-powell/
Speechless, shocked, and very discouraged by what I just saw. These cops seemed more than willing to kill him. And the handcuffing of the man after he has been stabilized and needing medical attention. Smh.
“If they don’t stop the killing, people are going to start killing them…”
Sadly, I agree.
The police and the right wing tough guys who hide behind them ought to look at what happened in Ireland when the arm of a state did not protect and serve but, instead, harassed and intimidated.
Newton’s first law applies to humans quite well, IMO.
Mentally ill guy with small knife is a threat, and is now dead; Cliven Bundy, pointing assault rifles at federal officers, is alive, and a right-wing Jesus.
I don’t believe either person should be executed, but there is an obvious disconnect here in who is a “threat” and how “threats” are dealt with.
Yes, and we the people have to have a national dialogue about racism, mental illness and our out-of-control cops.
They represent a far more dangerous threat to us than terrorists in foreign lands.
exactly they are HERE, and knowing that i temper my words here on purpose because i “fear” the police now, in my youth i considered them my friends because they and i were both on the side a the LAW…….i have seen countless police this week on TV breaking many laws……….and i am fully aware they dont care what i think of them, they consider me their enemy.