Relatives of unarmed black teen shot dead by police condemn St Louis riot

[Zacha341]

This could get bigger depending on how the investigation continues!

'Our family didn't ask for this': Relatives of unarmed black teen shot dead by police condemn St Louis riot claiming violence is 'not what Mike would want'

• Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead in street by police officers near St Louis
• Vigil was held in honor of the teen but quickly descended into chaos
• Angry crowds then gathered at police headquarters to protest his death
• Started chanting 'we want answers' and 'no justice, no peace'
• Looters among the thousands of protestors smashed store front windows
• They also pilfered goods as others smashed windows of parked cars
• At least 32 people were arrested
• Police explained that victim was killed after getting into an altercation
• Witnesses say Brown was unarmed with his hands in the air when shot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...res-goods.html

[Papasito]

We're mad! Let's loot and destroy our community! Let's burn down businesses near our homes! THAT WILL MAKE THINGS ALL BETTER!

[Papasito]

I do feel for the kid. I want to see the facts about what happened.
But not all murders and not all violence is treated equally.

When a white is patted down and harrassed by the the cops - OK
When an African American or Hispanic is patted down and harrassed by the cops - RACISM

Racism will not stop until situations are handled by situation and not on skin color.
That goes for EVERYONE.

And WHY is no one talking about this story from Furguson, Missouri:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mic...otests-n179286
? ? ?

A woman was shot in the head in an apparent drive-by shooting early Wednesday in the Missouri town wracked by protests following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer. St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said four to five black males apparently carried out the shooting on Highmont Drive in Ferguson, Mo., and fled in a car. The unidentified woman was transported to a hospital via EMS, but her condition was unknown just before 1:30 a.m. local time. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was in any way related to the recent unrest in Ferguson.

[LeannaM]

Now Al Sharpton is there making things worse.

I've read about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers marching for justice. I don't remember arson, robbery, and violence on the part of the protesters.

As far as the woman shot in the head, I'm not sure if it's directly related or not. Ferguson is part of North St. Louis County, and the whole area is known for high crime rates, higher than South St. Louis and the South St. Louis County. So crime is not uncommon there, and Ferguson's violent crime rate is higher than U.S. average already.

[Johnnny5]

There are now claims by police that Michael Brown may have been involved in an assault and robbery of a local convenience store shortly before the shooting. Not by any means am I saying this warrants getting shot by police, but it may help explain why the interaction between Brown and the officer escalated so quickly.

http://kplr11.com/2014/08/15/video-t...michael-brown/

From the video it appears as if Brown was a huge guy [[6'4" and nearly 300lbs. Of course this is assuming the man in the video is brown). That adds a little bit of perspective as to why the officer may have felt so endangered if they did struggle for his weapon as claimed.

[Jimaz]

There are now claims by police that Michael Brown may have been involved in an assault and robbery of a local convenience store shortly before the shooting....

Although [Ferguson Police Chief Thomas] Jackson says the officer didn’t know the teen was a robbery suspect at the time of the shooting. yet,

Wilson went to the area after a 911 call reporting a “strong-arm” robbery just before noon.

yet again,

“If he’s a robbery suspect, they would have had the lights on,” [Brown’s uncle, Bernard] Ewing said. “If you rob somebody, you would tell them, ‘Get on the ground’ or something, not, ‘Get off the sidewalk.’ ”

Yes, that's awkwardly worded but I think everyone knows what he meant.

Edit: I should have stated my interpretation:

“If he’s a robbery suspect, they would have had the lights on,” [Brown’s uncle, Bernard] Ewing said. “If you rob somebody suspect somebody of robbery, you would tell them, ‘Get on the ground’ or something, not, ‘Get off on the sidewalk.’ ”

[Johnnny5]

I'm not sure what you're implying Jimaz, but even if the officer didn't yet consider Brown a suspect in the robbery Michael Brown would have no way of knowing that. Given that they were only minutes apart I think Brown would have assumed that the officer was stopping them in relation to the robbery. [[Again this is all speculation and based on the assumption that Mr. Brown was the one that committed the robbery).

[Detroit Stylin]

So he deserved die with his hands in the air?

[Johnnny5]

So he deserved die with his hands in the air?

I'm pretty sure I never said that, but there are situations where the use of deadly force would still be acceptable even if the guy had his hands up.

We don't have all the details, and the ones we do have are half assed and come from the officer that shot the man and from a witness who may have also been an accomplice in the robbery. I don't think the cop is innocent just because he's white, and the guy that got shot isn't guilty just because he was black.

[Bham1982]

So he deserved die with his hands in the air?

There's no evidence the deceased had his "hands in the air". His friend [[the other one in the video robbing the liquor store) made this claim, which has since been uncorroborated by witnesses.

[Pam]

I'm pretty sure I never said that, but there are situations where the use of deadly force would still be acceptable even if the guy had his hands up.

We don't have all the details, and the ones we do have are half assed and come from the officer that shot the man and from a witness who may have also been an accomplice in the robbery. I don't think the cop is innocent just because he's white, and the guy that got shot isn't guilty just because he was black.

When would deadly force be justified on an unarmed man trying to run away? By the way, I saw 2 young women on CNN who were witnesses and their story is similar to the friend of Brown.

[Bham1982]

When would deadly force be justified on an unarmed man trying to run away? By the way, I saw 2 young women on CNN who were witnesses and their story is similar to the friend of Brown.

Again, this is all hearsay. The media lying or exaggerating for ratings.

And there are plenty of reasons why deadly force would be justified on an unarmed man, especially when that unarmed man was fleeing a robbery, had a criminal record, was well known by local police, and knew the police were looking for him.

[Johnnny5]

When would deadly force be justified on an unarmed man trying to run away? By the way, I saw 2 young women on CNN who were witnesses and their story is similar to the friend of Brown.

Which was it? Was he surrendering with his hands raised or running away? Both have been reported by the media, but the truth is we really don't know.

One hypothetical situation where the use of deadly force would be reasonable against an unarmed man with his hands raised would be after a struggle for the officers weapon and with a suspect in close quarters, but still approaching and refusing orders. If that's actually what happened I would not fault the officer for opening fire.

[Pam]

Which was it? Was he surrendering with his hands raised or running away? Both have been reported by the media, but the truth is we really don't know.

One hypothetical situation where the use of deadly force would be reasonable against an unarmed man with his hands raised would be after a struggle for the officers weapon and with a suspect in close quarters, but still approaching and refusing orders. If that's actually what happened I would not fault the officer for opening fire.

The friend of Brown said first he ran away then stopped and tried to surrender with his hands up but the officer kept shooting.

I would fault him for opening fire unless his life or the lives of others were at risk. A guy with no gun was not a threat. Here are witness statements.


http://youtu.be/XATTgfiY9Io

http://youtu.be/mNPe3fCFv-U

[Meddle]

When would deadly force be justified on an unarmed man trying to run away? .

Ask Anaheim, CA PD: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/manuel-d...ice-shootings/

[Jimaz]

Ask Anaheim, CA PD: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/manuel-d...ice-shootings/

Could you be more specific regarding your point in referring us to that link?

[Jimaz]

Let the record show that Meddle left the forum very nearly to 11:21 PM without answering the question. That's about 1 hour and 28 minutes to deliberate. What's so difficult about answering a question that simple that it takes that long?

[old guy]

A lot of confusion here. I can't quite understand the violent use of force. What ever happened to arresting someone and taking them to trial? The looting, seems to be questionable at best. How does that even play into the situation?

[Detroit Stylin]

So the question remains did he deserve to die?

[Zacha341]

The looting is just an excuse to get FREE things, the teen being shot is but a gateway to set that off.

A lot of confusion here. I can't quite understand the violent use of force. What ever happened to arresting someone and taking them to trial? The looting, seems to be questionable at best. How does that even play into the situation?

[Danny]

Were there been any protests and looting in certain areas in Detroit ghettohoods after Steve Utash was beat up be black males wearing Travyon Martins?

no, because our local news media, surveillance videos and other witness that will not snitch cover that.

We're there been any protests and looting in certain Metro-Detroit suburbs after a Dearborn resident named Wafer shot a helpless black female named Renisha McBride in his doorstep?

no, because our local news media cover the person responsible. And the accused admitted it.

If those two events have been cover properly than rioting and looting will begin.

In Ferguson, MS. the covering of the police officer shooting a black male is not justified and the name of the police officer involve was not wholly televised. The Black community there want some answers or they respond their right to fights either be protests or violence. Black folks are getting tired hearing young black folks getting killed by other race. It would a racial powder keg waiting to explode. If the Ferguson police officer had followed safety procedure before making simple arrest or a some justifiable shooting then this like a everyday protests, looting and more shooting would not happen.

[Johnnny5]

So the question remains did he deserve to die?

How can anyone here answer that question?

[Pam]

A lot of confusion here. I can't quite understand the violent use of force. What ever happened to arresting someone and taking them to trial? The looting, seems to be questionable at best. How does that even play into the situation?

Agree with Zacha about the looting, some people taking advantage of the situation to get free stuff. I think most of the protests nationwide were peaceful. As far as why there are so many trigger happy police who knows. Racism, roid rage, paramilitary training, psychopaths on the force? Take your pick, I've heard all those. We are all at risk if they don't get the police under control. Protect and serve has been forgotten. We are paying their salaries so they should be working for all citizens not against us. Here is a case I just read about yesterday that I didn't know about, a young white male shot in his own driveway by police while he was handcuffed!

http://michaelbell.info/

Just another one of too many incidents.

http://www.policebrutality.info/2013...tatistics.html

[Pam]

How can anyone here answer that question?

I'll answer it- no he didn't.

[Johnnny5]

^^^Then perhaps you should contact the Ferguson Police to let them know they have another witness that knows exactly what happened.