Category Missouri

RAMS with #Handsup push Joe Scarborough into a tailspin

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Source: http://thecount.com/wp-content/uploads/St.-Louis-Rams-Stage-HANDS-UP-DONT-SHOOT

Prior to yesterday’s game between the Saint Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders, several Rams offensive players entered the stadium with their hands up, mimicking the stance that some witnesses claim #MichaelBrown adopted prior to being fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson.

This morning, Joe Scarborough of “Morning Joe” was on a rant.   He questioned how the Saint Louis Rams ( by implication, anyone) would choose to make a hero out of #Michael Brown who was clearly a “thug.”  It seems to me that  #MichaelBrown would have needed to be arrested, charged with a crime and convicted before one could say, with any authority, that #MichaelBrown was a “thug.”  Officer Wilson denied #MichaelBrown the right of a fair trial, so the world will never know if #MichaelBrown would have been found guilty of robbing a store and assaulting a police officer.  #MichaelBrown’s side of the story has been forever silenced.  One cannot say that the Rams football players did or did not come onto the field with #Handsup because they saw #MichaelBrown as a hero.  Perhaps, they simply saw a black teenager denied due process under the law.  Although I am not a lawyer, it is my understanding that even hardened criminals, in this country, should be accorded certain rights and protections.

Joe Scarborough ended his rant by saying that while most people will not say it publicly, 95% of people agree with him. I’m tempted to use my mother’s words — “if 95% of the people jumped off a bridge would you join them”? –but I won’t.  Instead, I will say that things often look different from a distance.

In 1967 Muhammad Ali opposed the Vietnam War and refused to be inducted into the United States Army on religious grounds.  Muhammad Ali claimed a religious exemption because he is a Muslim. Ali was initially convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to prison, fined and banned from boxing.  I would venture to say that 98% of Americans (including many in the largely Christian African-American population) agreed with the government’s harsh treatment of Ali. After all, he was not a Christian.  He was not even a Quaker.  So, who was he to refuse to serve in the military?  However, after reviewing the cascade of body bags, the dark days of anti-war protests (especially, the Kent State Massacre), and, finally, the Pentagon Papers; public opinions changed, as did government policy. I think Joe Scarborough would be hard-pressed to find anyone, looking back, who does not respect Ali for acting according to his conscience.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, two Black American Olympic medalists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood on a podium, bowed their heads and raised their fists in the air,  giving the Black Power salute during the playing of the National Anthen.  This gesture of solidarity with Black Americans who were fighting for equality back home in the United States cost these athletes dearly. Millions of white Americans were offended by this act.  These two athletes could have followed the example of the great Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany and greatly offended, I’m sure, Adolph Hitler by doing so.  Jesse Owens made no outward sign or gesture to show how he felt about racism or the fact that Blacks and Jews were treated differently (i.e., Hitler sought to exclude them from the games).  Jesse Owens’ only response to Hitler’s claim of Aryan supremacy was to debunk the theory of Aryan superiority on the track.  Reportedly, Jesse Owens did not receive the same congratulations from President Roosevelt as was accorded other American athletes returning home from the Olympics.  Still, there is no record of Owens acting to draw attention to the his reality.

It seems to me that the times dictate ones response to perceived racism.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos chose to bow their heads in acknowledgement of the Star Spangled Banner, while raising their fists in the popular Black Power Salute.  They knew Jesse Owens.  They must have known the racism he encountered.  They certainly must have experienced racism in their own lives and understood the struggles of Black Americans who were not standing there with them on the podium.  As a young college student in 1968, I appreciated the internal struggles that Smith and Carlos must have experienced — wanting to support the struggle for racial equality at home while pursuing their quest for the gold.  They did not burn any buildings or commit any crimes, but they gave us a sign that we recognized.  Their fists let us know that they cared.

It seems to me that the Saint Louis Rams players are standing on broad shoulders.  Joe Scarborough and 95% of his viewers may be offended.  This is not the first time that a lot of people were offended.  It will not be the last.  The majority can be wrong.  One’s conscience cannot be dictated by majority vote.  An act of conscience must be the result of one’s moral compass.  Others may not understand until they look back from a distance.

The Puzzle: “Darren Wilson told investigators he was trapped in his car by Brown, New York Times reports”

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Darren Wilson told investigators he was trapped in his car by Brown, New York Times reports.

I find the leaks coming out of  the Ferguson grand jury that has been meeting to determine if charges should be brought against Officer  Darren Wilson for the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown puzzling.  Many people seem puzzled as to the source of the leaks.  As a news junkie, rather than a lawyer, I consider the source of the leaks less relevant than the content of the leaks.  Yes, I know the Ferguson grand jury proceedings are supposed to be conducted with utmost secrecy so as to insure “confidence” in the system (something like the trust insured by a jury of your peers or the transparency of The Sunshine Laws). Nonetheless, I am not puzzled by the fact that there were leaks, nor by the identity of the leaker. Rather, I am puzzled by the information that was leaked.

I am puzzled by The New York Times report that Officer Wilson testified that Michael Brown reached into the patrol car, punched the officer in the face and scratched his neck, while reaching with his right hand for the officer’s weapon.  I am puzzled by this.  Where was the officer’s weapon when Michael Brown reached into the car? Was the weapon in the officer’s holster on his hip, in the seat next to him, on the dashboard, in the officer’s hand?  I find the visuals to be confusing. If the gun was not already in the officer’s hand, why was the officer unable to use his hand to fend off Michael Brown or punch him in the face? If the officer’s hand was empty, why was he unable to subdue the teenager?  I am puzzled because it seems that a trained law enforcement officer, Officer Darren Wilson, lost an arm wrestling match with a teenager.

I am puzzled. The first leaked reports about the alleged injuries sustained  by Officer Wilson asserted that the police officer suffered major injuries, including a broken or fractured eye socket.  According to Snopes.com, reports that Officer Wilson suffered a broken facial bone and fractured eye socket are false. As a matter of fact, according to Snopes.com, images of Jim McNeil, a motocross rider injured in 2006, were circulated through social media to prove that Officer Darren Wilson had been seriously injured by Michael Brown.  Since that was all false, I am puzzled as to the true extent of Officer Wilson’s injuries.

I am puzzled because in leaked reports of Officer Wilson’s testimony to the grand jury, Officer Wilson states that he feared for his life.  I am puzzled as to when the officer feared for his life.  Was he fearful when the teenager turned and ran away?  Did Officer Wilson call for backup before exiting the patrol car?  Was Officer Wilson’s use of deadly force warranted by the circumstances?

I am puzzled. Did Officer Wilson file an incident report on August 9, 2014, the day he killed Michael Brown?  Had Officer Wilson filed a report of the incident by the following week, or the following month? If not, why not?

I am puzzled as to why Missouri Governor Nixon feels the need to appoint a Ferguson Commission to Address Inequality.  If the Governor is aware that there are problems of inequality, why did he not address the inequalities in the judicial system by appointing an independent prosecutor to handle the Darren Wilson case, especially in light of prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch’s conflict of interest?

I am puzzled.

Reblog From www.huffingtonpost.com/Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma Hog-Tied And Injured A Young Child, Lawsuit Alleges

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Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma Hog-Tied And Injured A Young Child, Lawsuit Alleges
Ryan J. Reilly, Ashley Alman 08/24/14 05:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON — A Ferguson police officer who helped detain a journalist in a McDonald’s earlier this month is in the midst of a civil rights lawsuit because he allegedly hog-tied a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mail at the end of his driveway.

According to a lawsuit filed in 2012 in Missouri federal court, Justin Cosma and another officer, Richard Carter, approached a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mailbox at the end of his driveway in June 2010. Cosma was an officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at the time, the lawsuit states. The pair asked the boy if he’d been playing on a nearby highway, and he replied no, according to the lawsuit.

Then, the officers “became confrontational” and intimidated the child, the lawsuit claims. “Unprovoked and without cause, the deputies grabbed [the boy], choked him around the neck and threw him to the ground,” it says. The boy was shirtless at the time, and allegedly “suffered bruising, choke marks, scrapes and cuts across his body.”

The 12-year-old was transferred to a medical facility for treatment, but the lawsuit says Cosma and the other officer reported the incident as “assault of a law enforcement officer third degree” and “resisting/interfering with arrest, detention or stop.”

Jefferson County prosecutors “refused to issue a juvenile case” against the young child, the suit says.

The allegations against Cosma were made in September 2012, shortly after he was introduced as a new officer at a Ferguson City Council meeting. Jefferson County is just south of Ferguson.

Captain Ron Arnhart of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, who is a candidate for sheriff, did not respond to The Huffington Post’s request for comment on the circumstances of Cosma’s departure. Neither Ferguson police spokesman Tom Zoll nor Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson responded to requests for comment.

A dispatcher at the Ferguson Police Department said she would relay a message to Cosma, who was out in the field on Sunday afternoon.

Richard R. Lozano, the lawyer representing the young man in the lawsuit, declined to be interviewed due to the pending claims against Cosma and the other officer. He said he anticipates a trial date early next year. However, Lozano did provide a statement.

“The lawsuit alleges that Justin Cosma and Richard Carter, two deputies with the Jefferson County, Missouri sheriff’s department in 2010, assaulted my client during an encounter on my client’s driveway while his mother was inside their house. My client was 12 years old at the time, shirtless and was not suspected of any criminal behavior. He was checking the mail. The deputies approached my client and the encounter quickly escalated. My client was restrained, choked, thrown to the ground and hogtied by the two deputies. He suffered scrapes and choke marks to his neck. No charges were ever brought against my client. It is my understanding that Justin Cosma is currently an officer with the City of Ferguson,” Lozano wrote.

Cosma was also one of the officers who detained journalists from HuffPost and The Washington Post earlier this month in a local McDonald’s. He declined to give his name or badge number at the time, and has subsequently refused to identify himself to the press. A reader tip allowed HuffPost to match his name and face after the altercation.

While still at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Cosma received an award for dealing with a person in psychiatric crisis, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cosma isn’t the only officer whose past has received new attention in the wake of the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson. Eddie Boyd III, an officer who faced allegations of hitting children while serving under the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, quietly resigned and sought employment with the Ferguson Police Department. Boyd faced three complaints of physical abuse against children between 2004 and 2006, two of which were dropped. Internal affairs sustained the third complaint against Boyd, saying there was sufficient evidence to support the allegation that he struck a 12-year-old girl in the head with a pistol, and recommended Boyd be fired. The St. Louis police chose to demote him.

Less than a year later, a teenage boy alleged that Boyd hit him in the nose with a gun, and the officer quietly resigned from his role at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. His license was not revoked in the ensuing lawsuit. Boyd was hired by the Ferguson Police Department sometime between July 2009 and December 2010.

St. Ann officer Dan Page, who has been on the force for 35 years, was suspended from duty for inflammatory comments made while addressing the Oath Keepers of St. Louis and St. Charles. Page made racist and sexist remarks, called President Obama an “illegal alien,” denounced hate crime laws and spoke flippantly about violence and killings. The video, uploaded to YouTube in April, was uncovered by CNN after Page pushed anchor Don Lemon on Aug. 18 during demonstrations in Ferguson.

St. Louis County Lt. Ray Albers was also suspended from duty after he threatened civilians in Ferguson, pointing his gun at them and shouting, “I will fucking kill you.” Reporter Joe Biggs was among the group being threatened.

“I can’t believe that that happened in America,” Biggs told HuffPost of the confrontation. “That’s something I’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. In our country? Mind-blowing.”

Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown, joined the Ferguson police after the city council in nearby Jennings disbanded the police department and brought in new officers over three years ago because of the poor relationship between cops and residents, the Washington Post reported.

Read the lawsuit laying out the allegations against Cosma below.

Justin Cosma

CORRECTION: Alber was originally misidentified as a lieutenant with the St. Louis County Police Department.

ALSO ON HUFFINGTON POST
Kids Of Ferguson

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Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma Hog-Tied And Injured A Young Child, Lawsuit Alleges
Ryan J. Reilly, Ashley Alman 08/24/14 05:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON — A Ferguson police officer who helped detain a journalist in a McDonald’s earlier this month is in the midst of a civil rights lawsuit because he allegedly hog-tied a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mail at the end of his driveway.

According to a lawsuit filed in 2012 in Missouri federal court, Justin Cosma and another officer, Richard Carter, approached a 12-year-old boy who was checking the mailbox at the end of his driveway in June 2010. Cosma was an officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at the time, the lawsuit states. The pair asked the boy if he’d been playing on a nearby highway, and he replied no, according to the lawsuit.

Then, the officers “became confrontational” and intimidated the child, the lawsuit claims. “Unprovoked and without cause, the deputies grabbed [the boy], choked him around the neck and threw him to the ground,” it says. The boy was shirtless at the time, and allegedly “suffered bruising, choke marks, scrapes and cuts across his body.”

The 12-year-old was transferred to a medical facility for treatment, but the lawsuit says Cosma and the other officer reported the incident as “assault of a law enforcement officer third degree” and “resisting/interfering with arrest, detention or stop.”

Jefferson County prosecutors “refused to issue a juvenile case” against the young child, the suit says.

The allegations against Cosma were made in September 2012, shortly after he was introduced as a new officer at a Ferguson City Council meeting. Jefferson County is just south of Ferguson.

Captain Ron Arnhart of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, who is a candidate for sheriff, did not respond to The Huffington Post’s request for comment on the circumstances of Cosma’s departure. Neither Ferguson police spokesman Tom Zoll nor Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson responded to requests for comment.

A dispatcher at the Ferguson Police Department said she would relay a message to Cosma, who was out in the field on Sunday afternoon.

Richard R. Lozano, the lawyer representing the young man in the lawsuit, declined to be interviewed due to the pending claims against Cosma and the other officer. He said he anticipates a trial date early next year. However, Lozano did provide a statement.

“The lawsuit alleges that Justin Cosma and Richard Carter, two deputies with the Jefferson County, Missouri sheriff’s department in 2010, assaulted my client during an encounter on my client’s driveway while his mother was inside their house. My client was 12 years old at the time, shirtless and was not suspected of any criminal behavior. He was checking the mail. The deputies approached my client and the encounter quickly escalated. My client was restrained, choked, thrown to the ground and hogtied by the two deputies. He suffered scrapes and choke marks to his neck. No charges were ever brought against my client. It is my understanding that Justin Cosma is currently an officer with the City of Ferguson,” Lozano wrote.

Cosma was also one of the officers who detained journalists from HuffPost and The Washington Post earlier this month in a local McDonald’s. He declined to give his name or badge number at the time, and has subsequently refused to identify himself to the press. A reader tip allowed HuffPost to match his name and face after the altercation.

While still at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Cosma received an award for dealing with a person in psychiatric crisis, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cosma isn’t the only officer whose past has received new attention in the wake of the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson. Eddie Boyd III, an officer who faced allegations of hitting children while serving under the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, quietly resigned and sought employment with the Ferguson Police Department. Boyd faced three complaints of physical abuse against children between 2004 and 2006, two of which were dropped. Internal affairs sustained the third complaint against Boyd, saying there was sufficient evidence to support the allegation that he struck a 12-year-old girl in the head with a pistol, and recommended Boyd be fired. The St. Louis police chose to demote him.

Less than a year later, a teenage boy alleged that Boyd hit him in the nose with a gun, and the officer quietly resigned from his role at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. His license was not revoked in the ensuing lawsuit. Boyd was hired by the Ferguson Police Department sometime between July 2009 and December 2010.

St. Ann officer Dan Page, who has been on the force for 35 years, was suspended from duty for inflammatory comments made while addressing the Oath Keepers of St. Louis and St. Charles. Page made racist and sexist remarks, called President Obama an “illegal alien,” denounced hate crime laws and spoke flippantly about violence and killings. The video, uploaded to YouTube in April, was uncovered by CNN after Page pushed anchor Don Lemon on Aug. 18 during demonstrations in Ferguson.

St. Louis County Lt. Ray Albers was also suspended from duty after he threatened civilians in Ferguson, pointing his gun at them and shouting, “I will fucking kill you.” Reporter Joe Biggs was among the group being threatened.

“I can’t believe that that happened in America,” Biggs told HuffPost of the confrontation. “That’s something I’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. In our country? Mind-blowing.”

Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown, joined the Ferguson police after the city council in nearby Jennings disbanded the police department and brought in new officers over three years ago because of the poor relationship between cops and residents, the Washington Post reported.

Read the lawsuit laying out the allegations against Cosma below.

Justin Cosma

CORRECTION: Alber was originally misidentified as a lieutenant with the St. Louis County Police Department.

ALSO ON HUFFINGTON POST
Kids Of Ferguson

Load More

Finally, the voice of wisdom…

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I received an email, recently, from a friend who called the Ferguson Police Chief the dumbest police chief in America (click for the article).   Yesterday, I received a phone call from a close friend who was distraught over news reports that there was looting by some Ferguson protestors.   My friend suggested that she could no longer support the protests in Ferguson because people were destroying their own community.

I disagreed with the first statement; because, in my opinion,  the Ferguson Police Chief, or his puppeteer, is executing a well-known diabolical game plan to change the conversation.  And, for the last 10+ days they have been successfully changing the conversation from the tragic shooting death of Michael Brown (#handsupdontshoot) to the claims of  lawlessness by citizens who dare question those who were hired to protect them.

As I watched the images on TV of the Ferguson Police, the Saint Louis County Police Force, the Highway Patrol Officers and the Missouri National Guard surrounding the reservation of Ferguson; I have been waiting for a voice of reason.  Finally someone has stepped forward to question –no–to denounce the  militarized response in Ferguson to a group of United States citizens exercising their right to speak up and demand answers regarding, what appears to be, the use of unnecessary force against an unarmed man by a police officer.

In the video below, Gen. Honore contrasts what is happening in Fergusion with what should be happening. General Honore’s remarks, I think, speak to my friend’s concerns about the looting in Ferguson and who is responsible.

Click here:Gen. Honore: Police should adjust tactics