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

[anonomom]

IIRC, when the officer decided to pull over and harass Michael Brown, he had no idea that Brown had stolen anything. He was annoyed that Brown and his friend were walking in the street.

Regardless, at least a few witnesses also said that Brown had run fairly fair away from Wilson, and when he was fatally shot, had turned around with his hands up.

I think this decisions is a disgrace, and the people of Ferguson are rightfully furious.

ETA: I'm reading the grand jury testimony now, and it's really troubling. Shortly after killing Brown, Wilson told a colleague that he wasn't aware of the alleged robbery when he stopped to confront Brown and his friend. He later changed his story and said he saw Brown carrying cigarillos and suspected they were involved in a robbery that had just come over the radio, and that's why he decided to confront Brown.

I'm also wondering why the prosecutor didn't bother calling Dorian Johnson, who was there and saw the whole incident. Or, for that matter, any other eyewitnesses. The only witnesses called (at least, that appear on the transcript) are police officers who spoke to Wilson about the shooting, and Wilson himself. [eta: trhe transcript I read was only partial. Apparently Johnson was called, which makes me feel marginally better.]

One more ETA: One of the things that bothers me most about this case is that Brown's alleged theft of some cigarillos is cited repeatedly as if it justifies his killing. Basically, the attitude seems to be that if he may have been a criminal, then he deserved whatever happened to him. No matter that he never got the chance to have a trial or that even if he were guilty, robbery is not a crime punishable by death.

[JBaxter]

IIRC, when the officer decided to pull over and harass Michael Brown, he had no idea that Brown had stolen anything. He was annoyed that Brown and his friend were walking in the street.

Regardless, at least a few witnesses also said that Brown had run fairly fair away from Wilson, and when he was fatally shot, had turned around with his hands up.

I think this decisions is a disgrace, and the people of Ferguson are rightfully furious.

This wasnt how it was stated in the press conference last night unless I miss understood.
He heard a call of a theft with description ( hat color, sock color pants and general physical description-- There is a video out of the theft also) and the as
came up on 2 men ( Brown was still carrying the cigars he stole)
he tried to subdue him they fought int he car the officer shot
Brown tried to run he called for him to stop
Brown turned and charged the officer ( a black eye witness testified to that in the grand jury) and there was a fatal shot all others were on the limbs and would not have been fatal

Where did you get he was harassing him? This was very sad Michael Brown died but he had committed a theft & assault had he just stopped when the officer called for him too while walking in the middle of the road wearing hat socks pants and physical description in the area of a robbery this would not have happened. Bad things happen when people decided to do stupid things like fight with a police man with a gun.
I had no opinion either way until I listened last night. There are good cops & bad cops but also good men and bad men in the world.

[Philly Mom]

So does that mean the evidence was clearly in the officers innocence?

No it means the prosecutor chose what evidence to present and how to present it so that there would not be an indictment.

Amongst my criminal defense friends the outrage is with the fact that the prosecutor decided to be judge and jury and then presented the case to the grand jury in such a way as to minimize the likelihood of an indictment. Prosecutors don't show the same "discretion" when the defendant is black. The outrage is also with the hubris of the prosecutor in his speech. The prosecutor did not want a trial. I am not sure the outcome would be different but if a prosecutor who believed in Martin presented the same facts, I am sure there would have been an indictment. There are many ways to tell a story.


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[wellyes]

This wasnt how it was stated in the press conference last night unless I miss understood.
He heard a call of a theft with description ( hat color, sock color pants and general physical description-- There is a video out of the theft also) and the as
came up on 2 men ( Brown was still carrying the cigars he stole)
he tried to subdue him they fought int he car the officer shot
Brown tried to run he called for him to stop
Brown turned and charged the officer ( a black eye witness testified to that in the grand jury) and there was a fatal shot all others were on the limbs and would not have been fatal

Where did you get he was harassing him? This was very sad Michael Brown died but he had committed a theft & assault had he just stopped when the officer called for him too while walking in the middle of the road wearing hat socks pants and physical description in the area of a robbery this would not have happened. Bad things happen when people decided to do stupid things like fight with a police man with a gun.
I had no opinion either way until I listened last night. There are good cops & bad cops but also good men and bad men in the world.

That is the current story, but it contradicts earlier statements by the Fergusen police.
Which is troubling. It may be a simple misunderstanding, but it's not so cut and dry that a trial seems like a waste of time.

[westwoodmom04]

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

I don't think it's misplaced at all -- an unarmed African American teenager was killed in a town that is majority African American, but government is majority white. Doesn't seem the integration you speak of is apparent in the government of the town. My level of trust in the elected prosecutor, who gave that ridiculous speech last night, is close to zero. And whomever decided to announce the verdict after dark is a complete idiot.

There are parts of this country where people seem inclined to accept the shootings of unarmed African American boys and even apologize for it. And that is truly shameful.

[icunurse]

Admittedly, not extremely knowledgable of the law, so can someone answer this for me - can the family pursue a civil trial against the officer? I recall hearing that civil trials have looser guidelines for guilty verdicts. Or will not even being indicted get in the way of that somehow?

[westwoodmom04]

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.

Really? You think it is ok for police officers to be shooting people in the street. The cop had a car and a gun, the teenager had no weapon and wasn't even close to the cop when he was killed. Generally, in this country, the penalty for shoplifting is not death.

[Karinyc]

There are parts of this country where people seem inclined to accept the shootings of unarmed African American boys and even apologize for it. And that is truly shameful.

Yes, and to think that race and bias had nothing to do with the trajectory of events in this case speaks to a great disconnect that this country faces. Unfortunately, we live in different realities were the narrative changes depending on the color of your skin & socio economic status. The officer didn't have to shoot to kill. Too many inconsistencies and dueling accounts. And again, the message the outcome sends is that a young, black man's life is worthless (or worth the $48 the cigarillos cost). Unfortunately, that mentality will continue and be justified.

[JBaxter]

That is the current story, but it contradicts earlier statements by the Fergusen police.
Which is troubling. It may be a simple misunderstanding, but it's not so cut and dry that a trial seems like a waste of time.

I was only going on what was said last night with the press conference from the grand jury findings. I heard all the different stories before ( from MB being shot in the back with his hands up to him being on drugs I chose to wait to see what the grand jury decided )

[nc_hope]

And again, the message the outcome sends is that a young, black man's life is worthless (or worth the $48 the cigarillos cost). Unfortunately, that mentality will continue and be justified.

Michael Brown was not killed because he stole cigars. He was killed because he perpetrated a crime, refused to surrender, assaulted an officer, attempted to take his gun, and then still did not stop after the officer fired the initial non lethal shots. Big difference.

I have done a lot of soul searching on this, and I can definitely say that I would feel no differently if the criminal was white, Asian, Latino, etc.