Grand jury in Ferguson case does not indict officer in Michael Brown shooting

[JBaxter]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/24...jury-decision/
I thought the press conference was done well and he covered a lot of information

[Seitvonzu]

i was just "across the river" today running errands along the main highway that passes ferguson (i actually drove through the neighboring town instead of going back to the highway, and i was near the galleria which they closed this evening before the announcement). i'm glad i got my stuff done and i can stay put in IL for a bit....it's going to get a little crazy i'm afraid. I'll be over here, praying for peace, peace and more peace. Our little town announced a couple weeks ago that if they think people are coming into the town to stir anything up, they'll close our bridge. that's going to be hard for people. peace, peace and more peace. please keep the whole region in your good thoughts

[marymoo86]

I watched a lot of it and if true, sounds as if there was a lot of reported misinformation.

Prayers for theBrown family, the officer, and everyone in the area dealing with the aftermath.

[icunurse]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/24...jury-decision/
I thought the press conference was done well and he covered a lot of information

I agree. Without knowing all the details, I can't say that I think the officer is 100% innocent (or even 90%). But the info in the press conference seemed to cover the bases. Personally, I think cases like these are a prime example of why police cars should have video/audio cameras....even audio would provide a lot of information.

I am hoping for peace, but it already seems to be going badly. I so want the people of the community to protest peacefully and not feed into the racist, hateful beliefs of some of the naysayers and to respect the wishes of Brown's family. This whole case is just very sad.

[AngB]

I watched a lot of it and if true, sounds as if there was a lot of reported misinformation.

I live relatively close. (Not close enough to be concerned with our safety, but close enough that I have worked only a few minutes from where the shooting occurred and have gotten gas at the QT that was looted and burned to the ground the first night of "PEACEFUL" protests. And btw, fwiw, there were employees trapped in the backroom of the QT while it was being looted and thankfully escaped before it was set on fire.) The protests were not really very peaceful for the first several days until they did start using the tear gas, etc.

The media has done a HORRIBLE job of stoking the flames and stirring the pot in this case. Just now on CNN, the headline was something like "As Obama calls for peace, police officers fire tear gas at protestors in Ferguson"...our local stations showed several protestors attempting to flip over a police car prior to tear gas/smoke bombs being fired, just as one example. (Now showing a police car on fire.)

There are some real issues that have been raised and absolutely need to be addressed. But this case was a horrible example to raise them though, imo.

[Seitvonzu]

YES angb--- there of course are issues that are obviously needing to be addressed , but you are dead on when you say this is really not the case to raise them.

my mother is a native to the area. she has been very active in the past in our town with committees that work to elevate disadvantaged areas so that the whole town would benefit-- improve properties values and things like that. locally, within the last decade or so, ferguson specifically has been touted as a town that has successfully integrated itself with town leaders from both the white and black communties working together for the better of their town. this town HAD addressed racial issues in the past and while of course problems exist, they were aware of the issues and made a point to be transparent about them (at least in the past).

so at the very start of all this....it was a little confusing. the did bring the "good" transformation of ferguson up in our local paper a bit, but i'm pretty sure that's not something people see nationally. i'm seeing lots of very angry people on my facebook already....and it just seems like misplaced anger.

i thought the press conference stated things very clearly

[StantonHyde]

hmm, black friends of mine on Facebook are posting that they thought the press conference was absolutely hooey. That nobody shoots somebody that many times as a mistake. (Brown was shot 6+ times??) I think there will not be peace for the next few days....

[icunurse]

That nobody shoots somebody that many times as a mistake. (Brown was shot 6+ times??) ..

That is exactly why I can't fully believe that he was innocent without a better explanation of that part, which we may never fully know due to the differing accounts of the witnesses. The press conference gave a lot of information and covered many points IMO, but so much of it was conflicting. I'm not sure how you could ever get a full picture....

Sadly, my FB is bringing out some ugliness. No one surprising, but I am taken aback at how freely people post the things the do. But people like that don't care about anyone.

[AngB]

hmm, black friends of mine on Facebook are posting that they thought the press conference was absolutely hooey. That nobody shoots somebody that many times as a mistake. (Brown was shot 6+ times??) I think there will not be peace for the next few days....

The people who think it was hooey most likely aren't very familiar with the facts of the case or are ignoring them. Granted, it's been exacerbated by the secrecy of most of the evidence up until this point.

It wasn't a mistake, they never said he mistakenly shot Brown that many times. Brown had physically assaulted the police officer with multiple hits, and that has apparently been corroborated by some of the black witnesses. Only one of the shots was fatal, the rest of them were to his extremities-arm, hand, etc., even the family's autopsy report said as much. (ETA- It was pretty well known at least around here that Brown had at least hit the officer once but the "multiple times" has come out tonight in the release of the information/testimony.) In some of the leaked information they had already said weeks ago that Brown was charging the officer as he was shot and continued charging him until the fatal shot. (Evidently at least one of the witnesses backed up that account.)

Rob a store, arrogantly walk down the middle of a street, ignore a police officer's direction to get out of the street, then physically assault the police officer and try to take his gun, then charge him...yep, that might get you killed.

[citymama]

Given that Trayvon Martin's neighborhood vigilante killer got off free, I didn't think a white police officer would be indicted.

I thought this article from Nate Silver's 538 shop was interesting "It's incredibly rare for a Grand Jury to do what Ferguson's just did" - grand juries pretty much always choose to indict. This was akin to a blue moon phenomenon:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/f...darren-wilson/

I'm at a loss for words, but my heart goes out to Michael Brown's family.