The media, family members, friends, and the family lawyer were all clamoring for this cop's name since this incident began for one unspoken reason since this whole thing began....and since the police released that name, I haven't heard one peep out of any of them regarding this issue. That's issue is... the cop's professional reputation. This is a community where they complain that their police force is racist, abusive, and unprofessional. I've heard accusations that the cops regularly engage in profiling, use excessive force, and generally harass the black community of Ferguson. Though they may not have said it, I believe the media, family, friends, and the lawyer all wanted this cop's name so they could dig up his career record to look for dirt to use to smear his name in the public's mind before the investigation is ever completed. I don't doubt for a moment that if they found that dirt, his career record would've made headlines within the hour. Headlines like, "Killer cop once used the n-word." or "Michael Brown killer has record of racial profiling" or even "Teen slayer had been reported for excessive force against blacks".
As it turns out though, this cop has a stellar record of professionalism amidst a police department known for exactly the opposite. He may not be the most senior officer on the force, but six years means he's no rookie either...he's likely been in very dangerous situations before, probably had to pull his gun many times, and all without incident. If his record can be used to smear him in the public eye, why doesn't it seem to work in the other way as well? I haven't heard anyone mention the fact that this cop appears to be the last guy on the force who's likely to just decide to gun down a kid for any reason...let alone that reason being that Brown was black. Everyone still seems to be talking about racist cops even though it seems fairly obvious racism doesn't have anything to do with this situation.
