What we know about Michael Brown's shooting

[Lost Angel]

Blue blood. Police are known to protect their own. Officers breaking the law and their oath rarely meet the same fate as civilian criminals. Police policing themselves has a far more lenient hand than criminal judges.

While violence and vandalism are counterproductive, putting pressure on display brings attention to the incidents.

 

[~RENEE~]

We're 9 miles to the north and west of Ferguson. The rest of my family is even closer (a 90 year-old grandmother is 6 miles from the epicenter, my sis-in-law 7 miles, and my in-laws 8 miles). Can't hear gun fire here, but it's too close to home. We are also beginning to do all we can to get out.

We are in
South city and ever since we've been hearin gun fire here. I'm thinkin it's the souths way of joining in to the protest.

 

[Ana the Ist]

What we know about Michael Brown's shooting - CNN.com



This is the part that isn't disputed.

Eye witness say the cop fired a shot after getting out of the car. There is no reason to fire at this point. Then fired another that got the boys to stop running.
(you don't shoot at unarmed people to get them to stop running.)

Then when the victim turned and raised his arms, the cop shot him again.

The cops side says:
The victim charged the officer and pushed him back into his car, a shot was fired in the car as the two struggled for the weapon. Then the cop shot the youth to death.

It would seem evidence should clearly support one story over the other.

One question, if you are breaking the law(walking down the center of the street) why not just do as the police said and stop breaking the law, instead of telling a cop you won't be breaking the law much longer because your almost home?
Without race being involved, I bet I would get a ticket if I didn't get out of the road right away.

People need to let justice run its course before they get violent. I support all peaceful protest. Destroying random peoples property doesn't do anyone any good.
I believe a good portion of the rioters could care less about this incident. They are just looking to destroy stuff or steal, and they think they will get away with it since so many people are doing it.

Even if the cop shot the boy execution style, there is no cause to riot in the streets. We live by laws, if laws are broken, justice will be done. If justice fails, there is appeals. IF appeals fail, then there is plenty of time to destroy random peoples stuff then.

Well that's pretty simple then isn't it? If the cop shot from inside the car, there will be gun powder residue inside the vehicle....and we'll know the eyewitness is lying. If that's the case, I hope they charge the witness with obstruction of justice (or whatever they use nowadays) at least.

If there is no residue....the cop should be tried for some form of murder.

 

[TerranceL]

Well that's pretty simple then isn't it? If the cop shot from inside the car, there will be gun powder residue inside the vehicle....and we'll know the eyewitness is lying. If that's the case, I hope they charge the witness with obstruction of justice (or whatever they use nowadays) at least.

If there is no residue....the cop should be tried for some form of murder.

I heard on the radio that the cop had injuries on his face so that would also be pretty damning.

 

[mpok1519]

I heard on the radio that the cop had injuries on his face so that would also be pretty damning.

Minor, non life threatening injuries.

Even if someone hits a cop, and they start to surrender with their hands in the air, it's still not okay to kill them. At that point one cannot logically assess a threat when they are surrendering.

 

[abysmul]

Minor, non life threatening injuries.

Even if someone hits a cop, and they start to surrender with their hands in the air, it's still not okay to kill them. At that point one cannot logically assess a threat when they are surrendering.

And you don't know if that is what happened, you were not there, we only know that people are making certain claims.

This is why there are investigations into deaths, to find evidence and to attempt to determine facts (separating claims and rumors from fact).

 

[TerranceL]

Minor, non life threatening injuries.

Even if someone hits a cop, and they start to surrender with their hands in the air, it's still not okay to kill them.

Which we don't know happened, all we know is that someone assaulted a cop.

 

[Lost Angel]

What does the police officer involved have to say?


Right now, we have alleged eyewitness accounts, hearsay, and nothing else.

Any minor injuries to the officer may have long healed before he comes forward. Hopefully he saw a physician immediately after the shooting.

 

[Inkachu]

Two more witnesses apparently just came forward (which is immediately squirrely to me, why would you wait if you had crucial information, unless it was to spin the story your own way?) saying that Brown never entered the car, he tussled with the cop then ran away, was shot in the back, turned around to surrender, hands in the air, and was shot again.

So, who the heck knows if we'll ever get the truth? You combine shady sources, no media allowed in, and random "witnesses" coming out of the woodwork days later, and it's pretty much a lost cause, I think.

 

[abysmul]

Two more witnesses apparently just came forward (which is immediately squirrely to me, why would you wait if you had crucial information, unless it was to spin the story your own way?) saying that Brown never entered the car, he tussled with the cop then ran away, was shot in the back, turned around to surrender, hands in the air, and was shot again.

So, who the heck knows if we'll ever get the truth? You combine shady sources, no media allowed in, and random "witnesses" coming out of the woodwork days later, and it's pretty much a lost cause, I think.

Forensics and the Medical Examiner will shed light.

 

[Inkachu]

Forensics and the Medical Examiner will shed light.

Unless someone coerces or pays them to skew their findings. It's happened before.

 

[Inkachu]

And now we know that he was involved in a robbery just moments before. Probably why he and his friend were hurrying down the street and didn't want to be stopped and inspected too closely by the police officer.

 

[nightflight]

And now we know that he was involved in a robbery just moments before. Probably why he and his friend were hurrying down the street and didn't want to be stopped and inspected too closely by the police officer.

But according to the chief, the officer wasn't aware of the robbery; just two guys walking in the middle of the street.

 

[keith99]

And now we know that he was involved in a robbery just moments before. Probably why he and his friend were hurrying down the street and didn't want to be stopped and inspected too closely by the police officer.

So they hurry down the middle of the street and when told by an officer to get off the street they start a confrontation?

That makes no sense at all.

Well unless a toxicology scan turns something up.

One does not steal stuff and then WALK in the middle of the street. Run, perhaps, but not walk.

 

[Inkachu]

But according to the chief, the officer wasn't aware of the robbery; just two guys walking in the middle of the street.

Right, that is also true. The robbery happened about 10 minutes prior.

So they hurry down the middle of the street and when told by an officer to get off the street they start a confrontation?

That makes no sense at all.

Well unless a toxicology scan turns something up.

One does not steal stuff and then WALK in the middle of the street. Run, perhaps, but not walk.

If they were in their own neighborhood (reports stated that they said they were almost to their destination) and felt like they were out of danger, I don't see it as anything outrageous. What makes sense is that when the cop confronted them about walking in the street, they tried to keep going rather than stop and address the cop, because they knew if they stopped and he got to talking to them for a few minutes, they'd likely be caught for the robbery. And don't you think running would look a heck of a lot more suspicious than walking?

 

[.chrys.]

A little more of "what we know"

Source: St Louis Post-Dispatch

Ferguson officer realized during encounter that Michael Brown might be suspect in robbery, chief says

The officer who shot Ferguson teen Michael Brown stopped Brown and another teen because they were walking in the street, not because of a robbery a few minutes earlier, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said Friday afternoon.

Jackson said the officer was aware cigars had been taken in the robbery of a store nearby, but did not know when he encountered Brown and Dorian Johnson that they might be suspects. He stopped them because they were walking in the street, Jackson said.

But Jackson told the Post-Dispatch that the officer, Darren Wilson, saw cigars in Brown's hand and realized he might be the robber.

 

[TheDag]

Multiple eye witness accounts corroborate the same story accurately within hours of the shooting, that Michael was executed while surrendering. Only the cop's story, which was never even released until days after the shooting, indicates Michael was being a danger to anyone.

Sounds fishy to me. And with the track records of cops covering up these types of incidents, I will guess no real justice will be afforded to the victims.

police not releasing their side of the story straight away is nothing unusual. Once here in Oz the police story was dismissed because of the time it took for them to release their story. Never mind that their story had video footage which does take time to get. I've worked in a business that police frequently asked for camera footage. It was generally a day after they made the request then a couple of days before we did it then notified them it was ready and could be anywhere up to a week before someone actually collected the disc with the footage.

Not saying the police are innocent but we shouldn't be making judgements one way or the other with such flimsy evidence. Especially with the race factor being involved then truth is often the first casualty.

 

[TheDag]

So they hurry down the middle of the street and when told by an officer to get off the street they start a confrontation?

That makes no sense at all.

Well unless a toxicology scan turns something up.

One does not steal stuff and then WALK in the middle of the street. Run, perhaps, but not walk.

That may be your opinion but when a place I used to work at was robbed (weapon involved) the guy sat outside in his car for almost two minutes before driving away despite being able to easily see in the store that the staff member was on the phone and would be able to guess he was calling the police.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Well unless a toxicology scan turns something up

.

That's what I'd like to know. Sumpin' ain't right.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Patience is the best route to take.

We were given an image of a gentle giant by Brown's relatives, now it is very apparent that that was not true. The number one witness against the officer was also involved in the strong arm robbery. The police force of that town had been in the wrong in the past, but they may not be in the wrong now.

Today the police made huge gains for the claims that have been made for their officer. It is still very suspicious when someone is shot in the back. A fleeing suspect should not ever be shot unless there is good evidence that he used deadly force in the past and that is not the case here.