Witness Johnson Tells Story, Video

Possible 2nd Shooter Michael Brown In #Ferguson, Video May Exist

Denver, Colorado, August 19th, 2014.  An anonymous source who works for a major news organization said there is a video of the Michael Brown shooting, showing the youth with his hands in the air before being pumped with at least 6 bullets.  More, the source says, there is a likely possibility of a second shooter.  Both reports are unconfirmed.

The source, who is retired military and past law enforcement, says he was notified of the video which apparently was posted on You Tube shortly after the shooting.  The source said he did not see the video but his friend did see it, and had called him to take a look.  However, the video was taken down so quickly, the source was unable to see the video himself.  

The source indicated it would be highly unlikely for any officer to shoot a victim 6 times.  The source told radio show host, Tim Paynter, of the 1150 AM  radio program, Un Dia Sin Fronteras, it was quite possible to rail off six shots.  However, officers are trained to cease shooting long before the six shots could have been fired by a single officer.  By limiting the number of shots the citizen is incapacitated, but alive.  It was the fifth and sixth shot that killed Michael Brown, according to autopsy results.

Denver Rally For Michael Brown

A more plausible explanation for the gunshot wounds is the participation of a second shooter.  There was apparently a second officer on the scene, since the reported shooter, Darrel Wilson, was sitting in the right seat of the patrol car when he encountered Michael Brown.   When Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, didn't get out of the street, the driver of the patrol car backed the vehicle up so that officer Wilson could grab Michael Brown through the patrol car window or an opened door on the passenger's side, according to witnesses.  However, the source said the existence of a second shooter was only speculation from his experience as a police officer.

Famous New York Pathologist, Michael Baden, may have been hinting about the possibility of a second shooter after releasing the results of his preliminary examination of the victim.

Dr. Baden said, "In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, 'you're not supposed to shoot so many times."

No witness reports speak to a second officer involved in the shooting.  Instead, witnesses claim officer Wilson grabbed Michael Brown by the throat when he refused to get out of the street.  The officer was heard to have said, "I will shoot" when a gun went off in the patrol car.  Brown and and friend, Dorian Johnson, fled.  Officer Wilson then exited his patrol car, firing shots.  

Some witnesses claim the two youths stopped and turned toward the officer.  According to the authorities, Michael Brown lunged at the officer at which time the officer elected to use deadly force.  This account is a surprise to many people because the affirmative defense of justification came over a week after the shooting.  The department has released very few details about the events until today.  The official account appears to be an effort to construct a story which will provide Wilson adequate reasons to use deadly force on an unarmed 18 year old.  

The confidential source told Paynter it would help if the authorities explained the process of what happens with investigations and internal affairs after an officer involved shooting.  It is not unusual for an officer to remain free during this investigatory time.  

When an officer uses deadly force he does so under protection of governmental authority and immunity.  However, the officer must adhere to strict guidelines as well as follow procedures adopted from case law set out over years of litigation from various cases.  If the officer steps outside of the framework of those procedures, then the governmental immunity will likely not protect him.  In extreme cases, the officer may face criminal charges.  A citizen, who does not have this immunity, would have been arrested by now.

An officer is not under any obligation to retreat and may use deadly force to effect an arrest when he reasonably believes deadly force is immediately necessary to effect the arrest and reasonably believes the person to be arrested has committed a felony, is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon, or may otherwise endanger the life or inflict serious physical injury unless arrested without delay.

A mere charge of jaywalking is not enough to constitute a felony.  However, a struggle with a police officer normally would be.  Clouding the water is whether officer Wilson had a right to initiate physical contact with Brown over a jay walking violation.  The attempted arrest, if that is Wilson's defense, has to be lawful.  Brown's attempt to escape did not involve a deadly weapon and Brown was not threatening anyone or endangering any one's life.

If a video exists showing Michael Brown with his hands in the air, then the subsequent shooting of an unarmed man who is not an aggressor will likely be positive proof and lead to criminal charges being pressed against the officer, or officers, involved.  A grand jury is soon to be convened to review these specific facts.  Until then, independent points of view remain nothing more than speculation and conjecture.

Ferguson residents are suspicious of their government.  The #Ferguson police department released a video with a person they identified as Mike Brown in a "strong-arm" robbery (where no weapon is used, but physical force is used) of a convenience store minutes before the shooting.  The revelation was made at the same time the name of the police officer was revealed.  The tactic appeared to be a direct slur against the reputation of Michael Brown.  Officer Wilson likely did not know about the robbery when he ordered the 18 year old Brown to "get the fuck out of the street", hence it was not a factor to be considered.

St. Louis City Police killed a person with apparent mental problems today, only a few short miles from the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, according to Fox News.

St. Louis, Mo. police chief, Sam Dotson, said, “So if you`re the family of a police officer and someone approaches you within three feet with a knife, I think you have the right to defend yourself and protect yourself. So I think it certainly is reasonable that an officer has an expectation to go home at the end of the night," Fox News reported.

"Today @SLMPD officers received a call for a subject who appeared agitated & was armed with a knife. Suspect yelled kill me now & approached," Dotson tweeted.

Dotson failed to mention the other options police officers had, the taser, and simple retreat, pointed out some St. Louis residents.  The law may not have required the retreat, but the wisdom of the law is always in the application.  Just because law does not require police officers to retreat does not mean they can't, or shouldn't.  With a mentally ill person asking to be killed, restraint is usually called for.  That did not happen again today, slightly more than a week after Michael Brown was killed.

The Ferguson community argues structural racism makes life as a black man very dangerous in Missouri.  Now, the mentally ill can share that fear.  If you happen to be black and mentally ill then the deck is severely stacked against you.  The chant, #handsupdontshoot and #iftheygunnedmedown is becoming a reality for people living under police rule in Missouri and across America.

  

Dr. Baden said “In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, ‘You’re not supposed to shoot so many times.'" 

Racial Landscape Likely To Change After Ferguson and Michael Brown

From Mashable

As one comes to grips with the death of a child, it helps, maybe just a little, to know changes will occur as a result.  Nothing takes the pain away, nothing justifies the loss.  It is tragic it has taken this event to change the history of a nation.  Michael Brown and the town of Ferguson, will go down in history along with other greats like Martin Luther King.

It isn't that Michael was a perfect child.  He had his problems and he was learning some tough lessons.  But no person who is unarmed deserves to face the destruction vented upon this 18 year old youth.

To start with, words like "Get the FUCK out of the street" is something a gang person might say.  An official from the government has a higher duty.  From the very first phrase spoken by officer Daren Wilson, an entire story can be told about how the nearly all white police department was handling the black residents of Ferguson who make up the majority of the population.

From Russia TV

I am a white guy.  When I heard about this tragic event, two thoughts went through my head.  First, "surely, this kind of Jim Crow attitude went by the wayside years ago."  Obviously it did not.  It makes me very ashamed to see racism is vibrant and in-your-face in the show me state.

"It seemed like there was an army at my house". Arming America's Police http://t.co/LXQKq7WEJB #Ferguson
— Hyder Abbasi (@HyderAbbasi) August 19, 2014

Second, I thought, "Geez, if this is still going on, then it isn't the fault of the people who suffer this kind of treatment every day of their lives.  It is all of our faults, the one's who thought the treatment didn't exist."

It is the obligation of every white guy to support the Ferguson community and the parents who have lost so much.  It is the obligation of every American to support prompt and sure change of the power structure through the ballot box, through our voices, through donations, through our own efforts.  It is our duty to encourage peace and love in a community which has received hate and scorn for generations.

From Wall Street Journal

What I am getting, of course, is, "we don't need white help", a kind of reverse of the love I try to send.  You have to love those guys even more, because you know they are handing back what has been piled upon their shoulders since birth.

Trooper Ron Johnson pointed to his uniform and said to the people of Ferguson, "I am sorry."

I point to my white hide, and I turn to each of you, and I say, "I am sorry.  This should not have happened.  I will do what I can to help the Ferguson community in whatever direction they decide to go."

I am reminded of a famous poem, which I will write for you in two languages, the original, and the English translation:

Amo el canto del zenzontle,pájaro de cuatrocientas voces.Amo el color del jadey el enervante perfume de las flores,pero más amo a mi hermano: el hombre.

National Wildlife Federation Photo

LOVE, the song of the mockingbird,a bird of 400 voices;LOVE the color of Jadeand the lovely perfume of the flowers,but LOVE more, LOVE your brother, your fellow man.

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Ferguson Teen Shot Six Times, Twice In Head

An autopsy performed by renown pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, former New York City Chief Medical Examiner, shows Michael Brown was shot six times.  Two of those shots were made to the 18 year old's head, including one which appears to have entered the top of his head while his head was bowed, and was likely the last, and fatal shot, suffered by the youth.

The autopsy results, one of at least three to be performed, was completed at the request of the family.  Prior requests for county autopsy results from press, family and community leaders, has fallen on deaf ears.  A third autopsy will be made by federal officials under a federal investigation for a potential civil rights violation.

The youth who had recently graduated from high school and was destined for college, was spotted by a Ferguson police officer.  Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson, were jaywalking when the officer told them to "get the fuck out of the street".  From there, the accounts differ as to what occurred.  

Ferguson police chief Jon Belmar claims Brown struggled with police officer Darren Wilson.  According to the youth's friend, Wilson grabbed Brown by the neck through his patrol car door, after backing his patrol car up to where the youths were walking.  After hitting Brown with an open car door, the officer was heard to say "I am going to shoot you!"

A neighbor, Tiffany Mitchell, claimed the boys were running away when Brown was shot.  However, the independent autopsy shows Brown was shot from the front, not the back.

Dr. Baden said “In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, ‘You’re not supposed to shoot so many times.'"  The pathologist who examined the body of Dr. Martin Luther King, retired from the New York State Police in 2011. “Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting," the doctor said.  He did not have access to witness statements when he revealed the results of his examination.

Police used tear gas indiscriminately nearly at the moment the first press reports were released about the autopsy, Sunday evening, firing into the crowd.  At least one child was doused in tear gas and a female had here windshield shattered by exploding shells.  

Prior to setting off the teargas, an alert was put out calling for "every available vehicle" to be sent to the area. A swat unit used armored personnel carriers to advance upon a stunned crowd.  The crowd dispersed ahead of the imposed midnight curfew.  Prior to that, members of the press were arrested, but later released.

CNN reported gunshots fired at the police but then retracted, saying only gunshots were fired.

Information for this article was obtained from the New York Times.