by Crane-Station
Yesterday, CNN reported that police Chief Thomas Jackson will step down “as part of the effort by city officials to reform the police department.” In a move that CNN reports may not happen until next week, Jackson will step down, and the St. Louis County police chief will assume the management position.
Today, Chief Jackson is publicly denying that the CNN story is true. The St. Louis Dispatch reports:
“It’s absolutely not true. Nobody has asked me to resign, nor have I been fired,” Jackson said.
He added: “If I do resign, it will be my own choice.”
CNN’s report cited unnamed “government officials familiar with the discussions ongoing between local, state and federal officials” as saying Jackson is expected to step down.
Mayor James Knowles III confirmed that Jackson has not resigned. “He’s stayed strong with us till this point,” Knowles said by text. “Don’t see that changing.”
Which version is true? CNN says that it relied on government officials who are familiar with ongoing discussions. Perhaps it is a matter of semantics. If the chief decides to spend more time with the family, it will be his choice to do so. If he leaves to explore other options, he will not have been fired or forced out or run out on a rail or anything of the sort. No. It will most definitely be his “own choice.” Either way, he likely won’t choose to make a choice to not stay, until next week. Next week is a big week though, because after the elections on Tuesday, the grand jury (which has been leaking like a sieve) will likely announce its decision, not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown.
This is posted at Anonymous Operation Ferguson: Grand Jury Leak:
Monday – October 27, 2014 3:00 PM ET USA
Last night we announced that we have received over the past several days a series of leaks from two separate and unrelated sources regarding the long awaited Grand Jury decision regarding the murder of Mike Brown by Ferguson PD Officer Darren Wilson. In our opinion after careful analysis the sources are reliable, and the information we are about to reveal is true. Both sources are government employees with access to both internal government as well as confidential police communications. For reasons of safety we will not be revealing anything further on either our sources or the material leaked to us. The following is a synopses of the leaked information:
On or about November 10, 2014 the Grand Jury decision will be announced. Darren Wilson will NOT be indicted on ANY charges related to the murder of Mike Brown. All local police Chiefs and jail commanders have been notified to begin preparing for major civil unrest. Governor Nixon has been notified of the impending announcement and has ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin preparations for a possible re-enstatement of the martial law that was declared at the beginning of the Ferguson protests.
Also:
As more information is leaked to us we will update this document. Please follow us on Twitter @OpFerguson and visit our website athttp://www.OperationFerguson.cf where this leak and other valuable information related to the Ferguson Movement is posted and regularly updated.
Does this surprise you, or not? Just now on television news, MSNBC is also saying that there will likely be a big “shake-up” in the Ferguson Police Department that will include a transition of management to St. Louis County. The one disturbing development though, is the build-up for “civil unrest” that will follow the likely non-indictment. In other words, it appears that there is some not-really secret preparation for even more killing, in the streets. They are expecting all hell to break loose, and they are afraid to announce the decision before the election. It appears that an anticipatory disbanding of the police department is the trade-off for Darren Wilson’s anticipated non-indictment next week.
I hope I am wrong.
Frederick Leatherman Law Blog 
FYI:
http://www.dailykos.com/user/Shaun%20King
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/31/1340611/-The-complete-guide-to-every-public-eyewitness-interview-in-the-shooting-death-of-Mike-Brown
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5691405
Here are some good resources on MB’s death & the problems surrounding bringing his murderer to “justice”.
Thank you so much, a2nite!
A great article by Frank Serpico:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160_full.html#.VFIeGHnD-70
Quoted paragraphs from the cited article:
In the NYPD, it used to be you’d fire two shots and then you would assess the situation. You didn’t go off like a madman and empty your magazine and reload. Today it seems these police officers just empty their guns and automatic weapons without thinking, in acts of callousness or racism. They act like they’re in shooting galleries. Today’s uncontrolled firepower, combined with a lack of good training and adequate screening of police academy candidates, has led to a devastating drop in standards. The infamous case of Amadou Diallo in New York—who was shot 41 times in 1999 for no obvious reason—is more typical than you might think. The shooters, of course, were absolved of any wrongdoing, as they almost always are. All a policeman has to say is that “the suspect turned toward me menacingly,” and he does not have to worry about prosecution. In a 2010 case recorded on a police camera in Seattle, John Williams, a 50-year-old traditional carver of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations (tribes), was shot four times by police as he walked across the street with a pocketknife and a piece of cedar in his hands. He died at the scene. It’s like the Keystone Kops, but without being funny at all.
Many white Americans, indoctrinated by the ridiculous number of buddy-cop films and police-themed TV shows that Hollywood has cranked out over the decades—almost all of them portraying police as heroes—may be surprised by the continuing outbursts of anger, the protests in the street against the police that they see in inner-city environments like Ferguson. But they often don’t understand that these minority communities, in many cases, view the police as the enemy. We want to believe that cops are good guys, but let’s face it, any kid in the ghetto knows different. The poor and the disenfranchised in society don’t believe those movies; they see themselves as the victims, and they often are.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160.html#ixzz3HctFKMiq
My comment:
Reading the entire article is time well spent.
Thank you so much, MDX, very much appreciated.
Double that emotion.
This is outrageous !! This looks like a Nazi buildup. What next. Marshall Law and all legally owned guns turned over to the cops ?
On the other side, I wouldn’t want to be Wilson……for many reasons.
Don’t give ’em any ideas! Keep that Marshall Law one on the downlow. BTW, as I recall from history, that is, in reality, the very first thing that Hitler did.
CNN Says Ferguson Police Chief “Expected” to Resign, but He Denies It (Sort Of)
The corruption in the law enforcement departments and the county prosecutor’s office is obvious to anyone with a functioning brain cell and denials will only increase the contempt.
They just want to put off announcing the illegitimate grand jury decision until after the election so the results won’t be affected by the righteous outrage.
Disgusting.
Not surprised in the least. This is exactly what I was expecting.
The state of injustice in America.
It’s like watching a slow motion train wreck.
hat tip sadlyyes!
Piper Kerman retweeted
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress 2h2 hours ago
Ferguson Police Chief pressured to step down before grand jury decision http://thkpr.gs/3585781
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It’s a distraction.
Now if the police chief were to be BEHEADED, I would believe there were some changes coming. But the choreographed “step down”? That’s a dance. We don’t need any dances now.
Right, there is something about the step-down not step-down thing that does seem choreographed. That’s a good word for it.
And to think all of this could (have been) avoided if they just did the right thing…
I believe most of the problems our country HAS could have been avoided if “they just did the right thing” over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over… [editor, repeat to end of page]…
I know, huh. Thank you dbj.
get yourself free……of Poilice Brutality in a Police State
just slip out the back jack….make a new plan Stan,drop off the key
skip the ad
Oops, here it is, I think!
My god.
Creepy, isn’t it…
I added this from Democracy Now, into the post:
The Stories of Some of the Eighty-Nine People Killed by Chicago Police in the Past Five Years
Holy smokes, that’s over a dozen a year, just in one city.
First of all, none of this is surprising. The cops are getting ready to riot and to blame it on the protesters. If I think about this for another minute I’m going to become extremely angry. It’s bad enough when it happens “spontaneously” but to announce their intentions so we can expect it is too much.
And that is exactly what they are doing. It’s really gross because they are playing it up like some kind of an upcoming sporting event. It isn’t any such thing.
And journalists will be targeted so they cannot report what really occurs.
Yes, I didn’t even think of that part.
Police In Ferguson Stock Up On Riot Gear Ahead Of Grand Jury Decision
hat tip Two sides to a story.
Take a look at the photo.
I believe they (police and so-called prosecutor with help from stenographic local reporters) are doing everything possible to tamp down unrest – short of doing the right thing: arresting Darren Wilson. I’m pretty sure your opening assessment is exactly what is going to happen. But Tom Jackson’s retirement (this will be his second one) will not prevent people taking to the streets once more.
Right. An anticipated shake-up that’s not going to happen, in a department that’s going to stay the same, is not really fooling anyone, at this point.