Riots in Ferguson, Missouri after police shoot Michael Brown

Jasmyne Cannick @jasmyne · 1h
To Whom It May Concern
http://www.jasmyneacannick.com/blog/to-whom-it-may-concern/

How St. Paul’s new reputation might’ve been avoided

http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2014/08/how-st-pauls-new-reputation-mightve-been-avoided/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...tting-on-bench-waiting-for-his-children-VIDEO

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/the-problem-is-im-black/379357/

* * *

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/08/29/ramsey-shooting

LAPD Names Officers Sharlton Wampler, Antonio Villegas In Ezell Ford Shooting

More than two weeks after police in a South Los Angeles neighborhood fatally shot Ezell Ford, a black man who was unarmed and mentally ill, the Los Angeles Police Department has identified the two officers involved in the shooting.

"The Los Angeles Police officers involved in the use of lethal force in Newton Division on August 11, 2014 were Police Officer III Sharlton Wampler, Serial No. 36135, and Police Officer II Antonio Villegas, Serial No. 38218, both assigned to the Newton Area Gang Enforcement Detail," a press statement issued by the LAPD late Thursday reads.

"The LAPD has a longstanding policy of releasing the names of officers involved in shootings after investigating evidence of threats that could jeopardize the personal safety of the officers or their families," the statement continues. "In this particular case, it was necessary to investigate evidence brought to the Department's attention regarding potential threats to the safety of the officers and ensure that measures were taken to mitigate those threats. In each incident, the Department carefully reviews and investigates potential threats against its personnel while maintaining its commitment to disclose appropriate information, such as the identities of officers involved in uses of lethal force, to the public."

Wampler's name had been leaked Wednesday by Los Angeles blogger and political analyst Jasmyne Cannick. Cannick also named another officer, but he was not one of those identified by the LAPD. She said the names came from "a reliable source."

A LAPD spokesperson declined to comment to The Huffington Post on whether the naming of two officers the day before by Cannick prompted the department to finally release their identities by the end of the day Thursday.

Continued here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/sharlton-wampler-antonio-villegas_n_5733954.html

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 46s
NEW: We made a video to show you how the shot pattern audio matches perfectly with eyewitnesses of Mike Brown's murder.

Ryan J. Reilly @ryanjreilly · 7m
Crowd about to arrive at #Ferguson Police station

Ryan J. Reilly @ryanjreilly · 3m
Justin Cosma, guarding #Ferguson Police Department, has his name badge back on.



Ryan J. Reilly @ryanjreilly · 4m
#Ferguson Police (including Justin Cosma) guarding the station



Ryan J. Reilly @ryanjreilly · 3m
All the officers appear to be wearing body cameras.
#Ferguson

I am Mike Brown Live from Ferguson, MO

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9035483/events/3271930

Samantha Liss @samanthann · 58m
A small group of protesters traveled to Kirkwood to canvass the area they say is near Robert McCulloch's home.



Samantha Liss @samanthann · 46m
Here's a picture of the flyers people will be handing out to McCulloch's neighbors.



MORE ‏@organizemo 22s
#justiceForMikebrown in kirkwood, MO. Getting ready to talk to McCulloch.



MORE @organizemo · 5s
Bringing the energy from #Ferguson to McCulloch's front door in Kirkwood.
#BlackLivesMatter

Imnyo Favorites @Misterbiceps · 58m
So many threats are flying around concerning what's going to happen if Darren Wilson isn't convicted.

Imnyo Favorites @Misterbiceps · 36m
Captain Johnson has the toughest job in St. Louis. I can't help but feel like that's the reason they gave it to him.



Imnyo Favorites @Misterbiceps · 23m
So many threats of a revolution if justice isn't served. And I don't think the threats are hollow.

Ferguson Everywhere Now

By Luke Nephew, Common Dreams

Blood is dripping down our faces onto the stainless steel of the armored police van. The hot yellow light flickers against the angry eyes of six young black men. We are trembling in pain and rage. Our chests are heaving. We are still breathing. One man’s eyes stare into mine.

“They didn’t have to do that,” he says. He is shaking. “How they hit me in the face when I’m already cuffed? Kicked me too.”

We all chime in, recounting the details of how we were just brutalized.

“They kicked my ribs.”

“They straight smacked my face.”

“They scraped my skin across the asphalt.”

We had just been arrested by the police on the streets of North County St. Louis for peacefully protesting the murder of another unarmed black person. Minutes ago, we were standing together calmly. We were talking, praying, listening, chanting and looking each other in the eyes. Then the police broke into the crowd and started grabbing people. Everyone started to run. I got around one line only to meet the next line in riot gear. I was tackled to the ground. Multiple cops jumped on me. One grabbed my face and smashed it into the concrete. I felt one of them slam his knee onto the back of my neck. All around, the police were doing the same thing to innocent people. My brothers were laid flat on the on the ground with automatic weapons pointed at their heads.

I was dragged across the street and thrown at the foot of a cop car. The cops yelled, “masks on!” and pulled on their gear to protect themselves from tear gas. They let us choke with our hands cuffed behind our backs. Then we were pushed into the back of the police van. The last time I was handcuffed, beaten and put in a wagon like this was in Palestine.

I think of Gaza and look at the young black men by my side. Dehumanization. Whoever thinks Ferguson and Gaza are disconnected doesn’t understand that we are in a desperate struggle against the poison of dehumanization. Wincing in pain, we catch our breath as the chaos continues outside. I heard the world is watching. But they can’t see inside of this steel cage police van.

I’m here in Ferguson because I can be. And I can be here because of many privileges. I have my health. I have relationships with people who have offered their hospitality. I have freedom of movement. I have access to compassion, which makes me want to respond when my family is under attack. I was on tour with my crew, the Peace Poets, and we had enough money for gas to drive here. In addition, no matter where I live or what my culture is, I have the privileges of white skin, which are significant in this moment as they are in all instances in this country. All these are privileges that many people do not have, and so I must first recognize that these factors and many more have allowed me to come here to St. Louis during this moment of crisis.

Beyond that, there are a number of personal reasons as a human being and strategic reasons as an organizer, educator and artist that brought me here. The source of my pain and rage is clear: I see and feel all people as my family. In the United States, my family members with darker skin are systematically criminalized, consistently killed and regularly denied justice. These are my brothers and sisters. I’m in the streets of Ferguson to demand justice for my brother Mike Brown and for Ramarley Graham, Anthony Baez, Hilton Vega, Nicholas Hayward Jr., Shantel Davis and all the many more. I’m also here because I see the repression as connected to the violence of white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia. This connection reminds me of what Frederick Douglass once wrote: “I will be a slave until all my people are free.”

Inches away from my face, another brother is pushed into a separate area of the armored van on the other side of bulletproof glass. Bring the cameras in here. This is the crisis. The emergency. He writhes in pain, his face contorted by the burning of pepper spray. We all went silent for five seconds. They must have put him alone so we couldn’t even lend our shoulders for him to wipe the burning off his face. He was right next to me but I couldn’t reach him.

I yelled through the glass, “You all right, brother? You breathing?”

He shakes his head no and utters, “I can’t breathe…”

His head shook, his body convulsed. We yelled for the cops to help him. I screamed to get my voice to the front of the van, where the cop sat in the driver’s seat waiting for the order to take us away.

“Heeeeey! He can’t breathe! Open the door! He needs help! Hey!” I yelled.

Through the two layers of scratched bulletproof glass, I saw the cop casually raise his white-skinned hand with an open palm as if to say, “Oh well. Too bad.”

Continued here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/08/30/ferguson-everywhere-now

http://www.gofundme.com/OfficerWilsonFundraiser

Ferguson Protesters Hope To Transform Anger Into Change

By Ryan J. Reilly and Mariah Stewart

Hundreds of demonstrators tracked through pouring rain and blistering heat on Saturday, calling for accountability for the officer who gunned down an unarmed 18-year-old here three weeks ago and for broader policing reforms.

The death of Michael Brown and the aggressive police response to the demonstrations that followed have sparked a national conversation about race and law enforcement. Now that much of the national media has moved on -- a point that was repeatedly made by speaker after speaker at a rally in a nearby park on Saturday -- activists are working on channeling the anger exposed in the wake of Brown's death into concrete changes to policing tactics in the St. Louis region.

Some of the most recognizable faces from the past three weeks of protests were out on the scene on Saturday, including Brown's family members, Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, Ferguson Democratic committeewoman Patricia Bynes and Edward Crawford, the 25-year-old captured in a now-iconic photo hurling a flaming tear gas canister back at police officers while wearing an American flag T-shirt.

Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, wore a T-shirt bearing an image of her son that read, “A Bond Never Broken.” She was protected by suited-up members of the Nation of Islam as she and Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., made their way across town. Spread out across the route were tables stacked with shirts with slogans like "I survived the Ferguson riots" and "I am Mike Brown." There were also booths where protesters could register to vote and petitions calling for the indictment of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot Brown dead on Aug. 9.

The crowd, which numbered over 1,000 people, made its way from the Canfield Green apartment complex, where Brown died, to West Florissant Avenue, the epicenter of the protests and the home of businesses that were looted. Then the protesters marched up Ferguson Avenue, in the direction of the police station. As rain poured down, they headed to Forestwood Park, where a massive tent and a stage on loan from the St. Louis County Parks Department were set up.

The crowd was mostly black, but it included plenty of white demonstrators as well. One of them was Michael Maresco, 50, a Ron Paul supporter from Richmond Heights, Missouri, who was carrying a massive rainbow Tea Party flag and said he was there to call for police accountability. Another was Janet Cuenca, a 76-year old retired teacher, who rode a motorized scooter and wore a shirt that read, “I can't believe I’m still protesting this crap."

Police officers kept a light touch as the demonstrators blocked streets, wearing only normal uniforms and driving regular police cars. Heavily-armored, military-style vehicles were nowhere to be seen, nor were officers in riot gear or canisters of tear gas.

<snipped>

At McDonald’s, on the other side of town, former St. Louis Rams cornerback Aeneas Williams sat at a table, chatting with several residents about what kind of change was needed in Ferguson and about what should happen to Wilson. On his way out the door, Williams stopped to chat with a man in a white T-shirt who was charging his phone.

“If he don’t go to jail," the man said, "they gonna burn this city down."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/30/ferguson-protests-michael-brown_n_5742710.html

‘Am I Next?': Ferguson’s Protests Through the Eyes of a Teenager



Looting, chanting, tear gas, rubber bullets – these are the images from Ferguson, Mo. entering American homes. But the vast majority of protesters are armed with little more than chalk and paper signs, hoping to create a memorial for Michael Brown, the teenager killed by a police officer in the St Louis suburb on Aug. 9. We followed teenager Shane Flowers as he weaved through the protests, attempting to let his voice be heard and fight for change with darkness slowly falling on Florissant Avenue. As he moves through the crowds, he hears differing opinions from other protesters on the best ways to fight for change.

Shot as part of the feature documentary School of Last Resort:
fiscal.ifp.org/project.cfm/656/School-of-Last-Resort/

vimeo.com/103678910

From http://tonyortega.org/2014/08/31/su...-a-key-fact-about-the-size-of-its-membership/

Riverfront Times Seeks Juvenile Records for Officer Darren Wilson | Riverfront Times

In response to a number of inquiries today, the Riverfront Times confirms that it is seeking the juvenile records of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, the man who shot and killed Michael Brown.

After the Post-Dispatch announced Friday that it is seeking the juvenile records for Brown, many people on Twitter asked that the same scrutiny be placed upon Wilson, who is currently under investigation for the shooting death of the unarmed 18-year-old man.

This is just one avenue of many in our continuing commitment to cover a significant news story for our community.

We have taken this action as a professional news organization, independently and not in conjunction with any other organization, as we seek to report facts and not rely on innuendo or speculation.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/da...uvenile_records_for_officer_darren_wilson.php

At least 6 Ferguson officers apart from Brown shooter have been named in lawsuits

By Kimberly Kindy and Carol D. Leonnig, The Washington Post

Federal investigators are focused on one Ferguson, Mo., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, but at least five other police officers and one former officer in the town’s 53-member department have been named in civil rights lawsuits alleging the use of excessive force.

In four federal lawsuits, including one that is on appeal, and more than a half-dozen investigations over the past decade, colleagues of Darren Wilson’s have separately contested a variety of allegations, including killing a mentally ill man with a Taser, pistol-whipping a child, choking and hog-tying a child and beating a man who was later charged with destroying city property because his blood spilled on officers’ clothes.

One officer has faced three internal affairs probes and two lawsuits over claims he violated civil rights and used excessive force while working at a previous police department in the mid-2000s. That department demoted him after finding credible evidence to support one of the complaints, and he subsequently was hired by the Ferguson force.

Police officials from outside Ferguson and plaintiffs’ lawyers say the nature of such cases suggests there is a systemic problem within the Ferguson police force. Department of Justice officials said they are considering a broader probe into whether there is a pattern of using excessive force that routinely violates people’s civil rights.

Continued here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...5f7142-2c96-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html

U.S.

At Ferguson March, Call to Halt Traffic in Labor Day Highway Protest

By MANNY FERNANDEZ and CAMPBELL ROBERTSONAUG. 30, 2014

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Rally in Ferguson, Mo.

Rally in Ferguson, Mo.

CreditWhitney Curtis for The New York Times

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FERGUSON, Mo. — Activists on Saturday called for mass civil disobedience on the highways in and around this St. Louis suburb to protest the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer, with the leaders of one coalition encouraging supporters to stop their cars to tie up traffic on Labor Day.

The appeal came at a peaceful if at times tense march and rally on Saturday that drew what appeared to be well more than 1,000 demonstrators to some of the same Ferguson streets where the police clashed with protesters in the days after the killing of Michael Brown. Mr. Brown, 18, was shot Aug. 9 by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department, and his bloody body lay on Canfield Drive for about four and a half hours before it was removed.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

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  Anger, Hurt and Moments of Hope in FergusonAUG. 20, 2014

Organizers at the rally called on demonstrators to drive on Interstate 70 and other area highways at 4:30 p.m. Monday, turn their hazard lights on and stop their vehicles for four and a half minutes to symbolize the four and a half hours that Mr. Brown’s body lay in the street.

“We’re going to tie it down, lock it down,” Anthony Shahid, one of the lead organizers of the rally, told supporters from the stage at a park. The following week, if the coalition’s demands were not met, including that Officer Wilson be fired and arrested on charges of murder, another four-minute traffic shutdown would occur on two days instead of just one, he said.

“I want the highways shut down,” he said of the Monday protest. “I know it’s a holiday, but it won’t be no good holiday.”

Mr. Shahid’s announcement was met with applause by many marchers, but it was unclear how many people would take part. Only a few hundred demonstrators were in the park when Mr. Shahid made the appeal, and another organizer suggested that the plan for Monday could change because the action was still under discussion. It was also unclear what the authorities intended to do in response to the civil disobedience plan.

“There will be an appropriate, measured response based on conditions, but we cannot discuss the specifics of operational plans,” said Mike O’Connell, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

The march and rally were organized by a coalition of black activists and leaders largely from the St. Louis region, including state legislators, lawyers, and representatives of the Nation of Islam, theN.A.A.C.P., the New Black Panther Party and the Green Party. Organizers with the group, called the Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Coalition, said they wanted Saturday’s event to be peaceful and had coordinated with city, county and police officials. They estimated the crowd at 10,000. For much of the event, the police had a light presence compared with the show of force seen at other protests.

“They’ve already seen the whole world look at the missteps that they made, how they handled the black community like an army going to war in Iraq,” said Akbar Muhammad, an organizer of the demonstration and a top aide to Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. “If they had any sense, they will handle it in a tactful manner.”

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story

The march on Saturday showed how difficult it may be to direct the actions of a young, decentralized and assertive protest movement. A mile into Saturday’s demonstration, the march seemed to split, with some heading to a scheduled rally in a public park and others insisting that the marchers continue to the Ferguson police station. Few seemed to know whether the turn into the park was the plan all along or an unscheduled deviation, and several marchers began a chant of “Ain’t no justice in the park!”

“If they stop here a lot of people will feel misled,” said Trinette Buck, 40. She said that the younger protesters were not waiting on leadership, nor were they concerned about what might happen if things turned ugly at the police station.

“There is no fear anymore,” she said. “It’s either stand up or die.”

A few marchers began heading to the police department without waiting for official word, peeling off in small groups and walking along the shoulder for two miles of road, drawing supportive honks from cars along the way. By the time the main body of the march, as well as the demonstration’s leaders, arrived at the police station, well more than a 100 had already gathered and were chanting in a somewhat tense face-to-face confrontation with a line of police officers.

Shortly after 5 p.m., one of the marchers who had been taunting the police line was surrounded by law enforcement officers and was apparently placed under arrest. It was unclear why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/u..._th_20140831&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=56203547

Getting Ferguson Majority to Show Its Clout at Polls | New York Times

Down the street from where the body of Michael Brown lay for hours after he was shot three weeks ago, volunteers have appeared beside folding tables under fierce sunshine to sign up new voters. On West Florissant Avenue, the site of sometimes violent nighttime protests for two weeks, voter-registration tents popped up during the day and figures like the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. lectured about the power of the vote.

In this small city, which is two-thirds African-American but has mostly white elected leaders, only 12 percent of registered voters took part in the last municipal election, and political experts say black turnout was very likely lower. But now, in the wake of the killing of Mr. Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white Ferguson police officer, there is a new focus on promoting the power of the vote, an attempt to revive one of the keystones of the civil rights movement.

“A lot of people just didn’t realize that the people who impact their lives every day are directly elected,” said Shiron Hagens, 41, of St. Louis, who is not part of any formal group but has spent several days registering voters in Ferguson with her mother and has pledged to come back here each Saturday. “The prosecutor — he’s elected. People didn’t know that. The City Council — they’re elected. These are the sorts of people who make decisions about hiring police chiefs. People didn’t know.”

N.A.A.C.P. leaders are creating a door-to-door voter registration effort with a jarring reminder as its theme: “Mike Brown Can’t Vote, but I Can.” Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, is working with others to hold a “candidate school” for people, including young black residents who say they want to serve on a city council or school board but need guidance on what a political campaign requires.

Continued here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/us/getting-ferguson-majority-to-show-its-clout-at-polls.html

The next election won't be for some time. That's unfortunate. If it were in November, we might see a 'throw the bums out' vote in Ferguson.They couldn't run their own candidates, but they could make their displeasure known by voting against incumbents.
As it is, it'll take several years before we see if they can be effective in organizing and sustaining a political campaign.

Operation Ferguson @OpFerguson · 1m
In the lulz of the week dept. for Operation Ferguson, the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police has taken down their OWN site from fear of us.

Operation Ferguson @OpFerguson · 3m
We would like to thank the Missouri Fraternal Order Of Police for doing our job for us. Now if the rest of the cops will kindly follow suit.

Due to Security Concerns

We Have Decided To Take Our Website Out Of Service For A Few Days

http://www.mofop.org/

Wesley Lowery @WesleyLowery · 19m
In tomorrow's Washington Post: 2 young (black) men - @bydarrylfears and I profile the friendship of Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...9b47ba-2ee2-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html

Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson, the friend who witnessed his shooting | The Washington Post

By Wesley Lowery and Darryl Fears

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...9b47ba-2ee2-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html

After reaching $433,000, donations for Ferguson cop halt mysteriously | LA Times

After raising more than $400,000 for the police officer who killed an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., two online donation pages appear to have been shut down by their organizers without explanation this weekend.

On the crowdsourced fundraising site GoFundMe, "Support Officer Darren Wilson" and "Support Officer Wilson" -- two separate pages with similar names -- have raised $235,750 and $197,620, respectively, for the Ferguson police officer who shot Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

<snipped>

Both pages appear to have stopped taking donations around the same time on Saturday, and the pages' organizers did not explain why. If a visitor attempts to donate, a message appears that says: "Donations are Complete! The organizer has stopped donations."

In a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, a spokeswoman for GoFundMe said the website had not halted the donations.

"Each and every GoFundMe campaign organizer is able to decide for themselves when they would like to stop accepting donations," said the statement from GoFundMe spokeswoman Kelsea Little. "Organizers may also choose to begin accepting donations again at a later date."

The page "Support Officer Wilson," which raised $197,620, is run by a St. Louis police charity called "Shield of Hope," which has been certified by GoFundMe as a valid donation recipient.

The three officers listed on Shield of Hope's state nonprofit records, Joseph Eagan, Timothy Zoll and Jeffrey Roorda, did not immediately respond to emails Sunday seeking more information about the fundraising efforts. Zoll is a public information officer for the Ferguson Police Department, Eagan is a city council member for nearby Florissant, and Roorda a member of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Nor was The Times able to immediately reach the anonymous founder of the "Support Officer Darren Wilson" page, a user called "Stand Up," who has raised $235,750 and who has not been officially certified as a verified recipient on the donation page. GoFundMe's spokeswoman vouched for the anonymous donor in a statement to The Times, however.

In contrast to the other Wilson page and the donation page for Brown, little information has been given to donors about who is running the anonymous fundraising effort.

In a message to visitors two weeks ago, the anonymous Wilson fundraiser page wrote that it was working with Shield of Hope to become a verified recipient. That has not happened. The fundraiser also gave out a pseudonymous Gmail account to users seeking more information, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

In its statement to The Times, GoFundMe's spokeswoman said the anonymously run donation page had also been removed from its search results, adding that "this campaign no longer meets GoFundMe’s stated requirement of having a valid Facebook account connected."

More at http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ferguson-officer-fundraisers-20140831-story.html

DIGITΛSHΛDØW @DigitaShadow · 2h
It has come to our attention that the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police has raised over $400,000 for #DarrenWilson so are you angry yet?

DIGITΛSHΛDØW @DigitaShadow · 2h
Missouri Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin W. Ahlbrand #d0x can be found at @DigitaWarfare #OpFerguson release the hounds.

http://www.gofundme.com/justiceformikebrown

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 47m
The "Support Darren Wilson" Facebook page has been deleting comments from users raising basic financial questions:



Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 40m
The "Support Darren Wilson" Facebook page also urged followers to petition against the fundraiser for Michael Brown:

How the Supreme Court Protects Bad Cops | New York Times

Last week, a grand jury was convened in St. Louis County, Mo., to examine the evidence against the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, and to determine if he should be indicted. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. even showed up to announce a separate federal investigation, and to promise that justice would be done. But if the conclusion is that the officer, Darren Wilson, acted improperly, the ability to hold him or Ferguson, Mo., accountable will be severely restricted by none other than the United States Supreme Court.

In recent years, the court has made it very difficult, and often impossible, to hold police officers and the governments that employ them accountable for civil rights violations. This undermines the ability to deter illegal police behavior and leaves victims without compensation. When the police kill or injure innocent people, the victims rarely have recourse.

The most recent court ruling that favored the police was Plumhoff v. Rickard, decided on May 27, which found that even egregious police conduct is not “excessive force” in violation of the Constitution. Police officers in West Memphis, Ark., pulled over a white Honda Accord because the car had only one operating headlight. Rather than comply with an officer’s request to get out of the car, the driver made the unfortunate decision to speed away. The police chased the car for more than five minutes, reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Eventually, officers fired 15 shots into the car, killing both the driver and a passenger.

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and ruled unanimously in favor of the police. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said that the driver’s conduct posed a “grave public safety risk” and that the police were justified in shooting at the car to stop it. The court said it “stands to reason that, if police officers are justified in firing at a suspect in order to end a severe threat to public safety, the officers need not stop shooting until the threat has ended.”

This is deeply disturbing. The Supreme Court now has said that whenever there is a high-speed chase that could injure others — and that would seem to be true of virtually all high-speed chases — the police can shoot at the vehicle and keep shooting until the chase ends. Obvious alternatives could include shooting out the car’s tires, or even taking the license plate number and tracking the driver down later.

Continued here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/opinion/how-the-supreme-court-protects-bad-cops.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 3h
I've updated my story on the Darren Wilson donations. One fundraiser is a Missouri Democrat running for state senate:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ferguson-officer-fundraisers-20140831-story.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 3h
Rep. Jeffrey Roorda was also fired from a police department in 2001 after accusations he'd made false statements.

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 3h
(He hasn't responded to my messages [yet?] so I haven't been able to get his take on things.)

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 2h
I'm getting the backstory behind the Darren Wilson fundraisers right now, stay tuned.

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 54m
Story on the Darren Wilson fundraisers coming up. It's pretty interesting.

3ChicsPolitico @3ChicsPolitico · 2h
Guess who's behind the GoFundMe page FOR Darren Wilson?
Jeffrey Roorda, a Democrat running FOR state Senate.

Elon James White @elonjames · 1m
.@ShaunKing you see that @RoordaJ was fired from a police dept for filing false charges and sponsored a bill that would hide killer cops' names?

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 21s
Here are ALL of the details and case laws on the False Reports filed by @RoordaJ while he was an officer:
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mo-court-of-appeals/1333908.html

Jeff Roorda @RoordaJ · Aug 19
As my daughters start school, I’m reminded of MO's commitment to education - something I'll fight for in the #MOsen.

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 13m
OK, here's the backstory on the Darren Wilson fundraisers. It gets... a little weird.
www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-fundraisers-20140901-story.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 7m
The creator of one Darren Wilson fundraiser page, which has raised $200,000+, is (allegedly) a random teenage girl:
www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-fundraisers-20140901-story.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 6m
...and I say "allegedly" because the anonymous administrator of that Darren Wilson fundraising page *denies it*
www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-fundraisers-20140901-story.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 3m
For those asking, Rep. Roorda told me that, no, the girl is not related to Darren Wilson.

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 20m
It is clear, so damn clear, that our nation lacks clear laws & guidelines on police misconduct. It's sick actually.

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 3m
Think on this: even though @RoordaJ was fired as an officer for falsifying reports, he's on the Missouri Board of Public Safety.

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 12s
You want sick? Look at the bold print of the bill @RoordaJ just introduced to protect officers like himself and Wilson.
http://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills141/biltxt/intro/HB1466I.htm

Actually, the law is pretty clear. Cops can't be held accountable for their crimes. That IS the law.

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 13m
The administrator of the anonymous, $200k+ Darren Wilson GoFundMe page STILL tells me Rep. Roorda's story is false.



Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 12m
I'm hopping on MSNBC in a bit to talk about the lingering mystery behind the online Darren Wilson fundraising:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-fundraisers-20140901-story.html

A Ferguson fundraiser mystery | MSNBC

Who is behind the fundraising efforts for Officer Darren Wilson? Chris Hayes attempts to find out.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/a-ferguson-fundraiser-mystery-324583491687

Shaun King @ShaunKing · 1h
Whatever you do, watch this video, share it, and know the role @RoordaJ & @GovJayNixon play in justice for Mike Brown.

Juvenile court: Michael Brown had no serious felony convictions, did not face felony charges

Michael Brown was never found delinquent of the juvenile equivalents of any Class A or B felony charges, and was not facing any at the time he died, a court official said this morning at a hearing on whether his juvenile records should be released.

The Post-Dispatch had filed a petition in St. Louis County Circuit Court to unseal any records about him in family court, if any existed.

Cynthia Harcourt, a lawyer for St. Louis County Juvenile Officer Kip Seeley, argued against releasing those records, but acknowledged that there were no convictions or active cases for the most serious types of felonies.

Continued here:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_43c9bbbb-356f-5ea6-b9e2-7dde7e3e5c83.html

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce · 59s
The U.S. Justice Department is going to launch a civil-rights investigation into the Ferguson police, WaPo reports:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...7dd928-33bc-11e4-a723-fa3895a25d02_story.html

About time.