Looting in Missouri after cops shoot 18 year old (3 Viewers)

[Ditka Butkus]

good lord. Just stop posting.

This.

I will because....I have to go now and shake my head and laugh at you people.

Happier times.

What is it with you people, somebody who is not in your little clique has an opposing view and you all can't deal with it.

Do you mean black people?

No... I mean you old guard brown nosers..

 

[matttyl]

Did the police explain why they didn't release the information about the robbery until now?

Ongoing investigation possibly?

 

[Henry Ford]

I don't think the context changes at all. It is still this: Cop shoots a defenseless kid from 30 yards away.

The bolded is according to witnesses. It'll be interesting to see what the forensic results on the bullet wounds show.

I thought it was 30 feet away... now it's 30 yards away?

Someone page me when he was gunned down from 30 miles away.

I thought it was 35 feet (or yards).

I'm assuming everyone realizes there is a relatively significant difference between feet/yards here, right?

I've read both, but the difference really is not material here. Either way he was shot while running away from a distance, unarmed.

a couple steps plus momentum could carry a 6'4" tall man 30-35" feet... obviously not good to shoot someone in the back from 5-10 feet away but a bit more excusable as a "heat of the moment thing" as the person is still within range of being a threat.

Shooting someone in the back 30-35 yards away would require taking a good bit of time to line up the shot on a suspect who is WELL outside of range of being any sort of threat. It's absolutely inexcusable under any explanation.

Clarifying for the nits who love to mince words... I'm NOT saying shooting someone in the back at the closer rage is excusable... just easier to see as a "heat of moment" thing than the (much) longer distance.

You're not going to travel 20-30 feet after getting shot in the back with a service weapon from a couple of steps plus momentum, after already being shot once. The stride for a sprinter in the Olympics is less than that.

 

[Fennis]

Did the police explain why they didn't release the information about the robbery until now?

Ongoing investigation possibly?

I'm beginning to think they only recently discovered the link.

 

[Mr Non Sequitur]

Ah, of course this inevitably devolves to the incoming Brown investigation/trial.

From my standpoint, it is terrible that young man died, but the immediate militarization of the PD and treatment of the protesters are the most disturbing things to come from #Ferguson.

And it can happen in other cities as well.

 

[Henry Ford]

good lord. Just stop posting.

This.

I will because....I have to go now and shake my head and laugh at you people.

Happier times.

What is it with you people, somebody who is not in your little clique has an opposing view and you all can't deal with it.

Do you mean black people?

No... I mean you old guard brown nosers..

I knew color was involved.

 

[kentric]

I don't think the context changes at all. It is still this: Cop shoots a defenseless kid from 30 yards away.

The bolded is according to witnesses. It'll be interesting to see what the forensic results on the bullet wounds show.

I thought it was 30 feet away... now it's 30 yards away?

Someone page me when he was gunned down from 30 miles away.

I thought it was 35 feet (or yards).

I'm assuming everyone realizes there is a relatively significant difference between feet/yards here, right?

I've read both, but the difference really is not material here. Either way he was shot while running away from a distance, unarmed.

a couple steps plus momentum could carry a 6'4" tall man 30-35" feet... obviously not good to shoot someone in the back from 5-10 feet away but a bit more excusable as a "heat of the moment thing" as the person is still within range of being a threat.

Shooting someone in the back 30-35 yards away would require taking a good bit of time to line up the shot on a suspect who is WELL outside of range of being any sort of threat. It's absolutely inexcusable under any explanation.

Clarifying for the nits who love to mince words... I'm NOT saying shooting someone in the back at the closer rage is excusable... just easier to see as a "heat of moment" thing than the (much) longer distance.

Also need to work in the "had his hands up in the air" into this. If that is true, putting it all together you can only come to the conclusion that the police officer's actions were excessive.

 

[Jackstraw]

For the second time in a day, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson appeared before the press, once again fumbling his way through difficult questions. In his earlier press conference, Jackson released a press packet that had nothing to do with the issue at hand—what were the circumstances of Michael Brown's death—but did release the name of Brown's shooter, Darren Wilson. Apparently because so many in the media have been asking what in the hell the robbery of the convenience store had to do with the shooting, Jackson was forced to come back out and clarify: They had nothing to do with each other.

Jackson says the officer who stopped Brown did not stop him in connection with the alleged robbery. Brown was stopped, Jackson says, “Because he was walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic. That was it.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/15/1321972/-Ferguson-Police-Chief-Wilson-did-not-know-Brown-was-a-robbery-suspect-when-he-killed-him

 

[Jackstraw]

Jackson is asked: If the alleged robbery had nothing to do with Brown being stopped, then why would you release the video of the robbery?

“Because you asked for it,” Jackson says.

 

[Henry Ford]

For the second time in a day, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson appeared before the press, once again fumbling his way through difficult questions. In his earlier press conference, Jackson released a press packet that had nothing to do with the issue at hand—what were the circumstances of Michael Brown's death—but did release the name of Brown's shooter, Darren Wilson. Apparently because so many in the media have been asking what in the hell the robbery of the convenience store had to do with the shooting, Jackson was forced to come back out and clarify: They had nothing to do with each other.

Jackson says the officer who stopped Brown did not stop him in connection with the alleged robbery. Brown was stopped, Jackson says, “Because he was walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic. That was it.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/15/1321972/-Ferguson-Police-Chief-Wilson-did-not-know-Brown-was-a-robbery-suspect-when-he-killed-him

Oh, look, we're back to the start of the whole thing.

 

[matttyl]

More information

The report also said Brown and a second man identified as Dorian Jones, 22, entered the store. It said information from surveillance cameras, a clerk and a patron in the store, whose names were redacted, indicated that Brown told a clerk he wanted cigars.

Brown then grabbed a box of cigars and turned to leave, the report said. When someone came out from behind the counter to confront him, Brown “forcefully pushed him back into a display rack” and left the store with Johnson, it said. It was accompanied by photographs taken from the video surveillance that showed a large man in a red baseball cap towering over a smaller man in an apparent altercation inside the store.


Jackson described this timeline before the shooting:

Police received a call at 11:51 a.m. on Aug. 9 of a “strong-arm” robbery at an area convenience store. A box of cigars had been stolen, according to the police report.

One minute later, police were given details of the suspects. Jackson did not provide those details to reporters.

Wilson responded to the call. He encountered Brown at 12:01 p.m.

Within minutes, Brown was dead and Ferguson was engulfed in turmoil that grew as police, citing fears for the officer’s security, withheld his name from the public.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fergsuon-shooting-police-name-20140815-story.html

If this is true, did Wilson know at 12:01 what was stolen during the "strong-arm" robbery? Did he for sure know at the time that the only thing (that we currently know of) stolen was cigars?

 

[Ditka Butkus]

good lord. Just stop posting.

This.

I will because....I have to go now and shake my head and laugh at you people.

Happier times.

What is it with you people, somebody who is not in your little clique has an opposing view and you all can't deal with it.

Do you mean black people?

No... I mean you old guard brown nosers..

I knew color was involved.

Are we going to do this all day?....I'm tiring of your silliness....I guess I gave you more credit than you deserve in regards to you being an educated man...Now if you don't mind I will be turning my attention back to the topic at hand.

 

[Gary Coal Man]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

 

[Henry Ford]

Are we going to do this all day?....I'm tiring of your silliness....I guess I gave you more credit than you deserve in regards to you being an educated man...Now if you don't mind I will be turning my attention back to the topic at hand.

I don't mind.

 

[Henry Ford]

More information

The report also said Brown and a second man identified as Dorian Jones, 22, entered the store. It said information from surveillance cameras, a clerk and a patron in the store, whose names were redacted, indicated that Brown told a clerk he wanted cigars.

Brown then grabbed a box of cigars and turned to leave, the report said. When someone came out from behind the counter to confront him, Brown “forcefully pushed him back into a display rack” and left the store with Johnson, it said. It was accompanied by photographs taken from the video surveillance that showed a large man in a red baseball cap towering over a smaller man in an apparent altercation inside the store.


Jackson described this timeline before the shooting:

Police received a call at 11:51 a.m. on Aug. 9 of a “strong-arm” robbery at an area convenience store. A box of cigars had been stolen, according to the police report.

One minute later, police were given details of the suspects. Jackson did not provide those details to reporters.

Wilson responded to the call. He encountered Brown at 12:01 p.m.

Within minutes, Brown was dead and Ferguson was engulfed in turmoil that grew as police, citing fears for the officer’s security, withheld his name from the public.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fergsuon-shooting-police-name-20140815-story.html

If this is true, did Wilson know at 12:01 what was stolen during the "strong-arm" robbery? Did he for sure know at the time that the only thing (that we currently know of) stolen was cigars?

You're behind. He didn't even know or suspect that Brown was involved, according to the chief.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

good lord. Just stop posting.

This.

I will because....I have to go now and shake my head and laugh at you people.

Happier times.

What is it with you people, somebody who is not in your little clique has an opposing view and you all can't deal with it.

Do you mean black people?

No... I mean you old guard brown nosers..

I knew color was involved.

Are we going to do this all day?....I'm tiring of your silliness....I guess I gave you more credit than you deserve in regards to you being an educated man...Now if you don't mind I will be turning my attention back to the topic at hand.

Have you been Mirandized yet?

 

[Henry Ford]

Have you been Mirandized yet?

 

[kentric]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

 

[jplvr]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer.

If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

 

[matttyl]

More information

The report also said Brown and a second man identified as Dorian Jones, 22, entered the store. It said information from surveillance cameras, a clerk and a patron in the store, whose names were redacted, indicated that Brown told a clerk he wanted cigars.

Brown then grabbed a box of cigars and turned to leave, the report said. When someone came out from behind the counter to confront him, Brown “forcefully pushed him back into a display rack” and left the store with Johnson, it said. It was accompanied by photographs taken from the video surveillance that showed a large man in a red baseball cap towering over a smaller man in an apparent altercation inside the store.


Jackson described this timeline before the shooting:

Police received a call at 11:51 a.m. on Aug. 9 of a “strong-arm” robbery at an area convenience store. A box of cigars had been stolen, according to the police report.

One minute later, police were given details of the suspects. Jackson did not provide those details to reporters.

Wilson responded to the call. He encountered Brown at 12:01 p.m.

Within minutes, Brown was dead and Ferguson was engulfed in turmoil that grew as police, citing fears for the officer’s security, withheld his name from the public.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fergsuon-shooting-police-name-20140815-story.html

If this is true, did Wilson know at 12:01 what was stolen during the "strong-arm" robbery? Did he for sure know at the time that the only thing (that we currently know of) stolen was cigars?

You're behind. He didn't even know or suspect that Brown was involved, according to the chief.

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

 

[Henry Ford]

More information

The report also said Brown and a second man identified as Dorian Jones, 22, entered the store. It said information from surveillance cameras, a clerk and a patron in the store, whose names were redacted, indicated that Brown told a clerk he wanted cigars.

Brown then grabbed a box of cigars and turned to leave, the report said. When someone came out from behind the counter to confront him, Brown “forcefully pushed him back into a display rack” and left the store with Johnson, it said. It was accompanied by photographs taken from the video surveillance that showed a large man in a red baseball cap towering over a smaller man in an apparent altercation inside the store.


Jackson described this timeline before the shooting:

Police received a call at 11:51 a.m. on Aug. 9 of a “strong-arm” robbery at an area convenience store. A box of cigars had been stolen, according to the police report.

One minute later, police were given details of the suspects. Jackson did not provide those details to reporters.

Wilson responded to the call. He encountered Brown at 12:01 p.m.

Within minutes, Brown was dead and Ferguson was engulfed in turmoil that grew as police, citing fears for the officer’s security, withheld his name from the public.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fergsuon-shooting-police-name-20140815-story.html

If this is true, did Wilson know at 12:01 what was stolen during the "strong-arm" robbery? Did he for sure know at the time that the only thing (that we currently know of) stolen was cigars?

You're behind. He didn't even know or suspect that Brown was involved, according to the chief.

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

The chief of police.

 

[msommer]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer.

If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

So you'll shoot him in the back as he runs away?

 

[Henry Ford]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer.

If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

So you'll shoot him in the back as he runs away?

Take no chances. Or prisoners. Or decaf.

 

[matttyl]

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

The chief of police.

So he said both that Wilson "responded to the call" and that "the stop had nothing to do with the robbery"?

 

[igbomb]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer.

If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

How about if you shoot them once and then they back off? Chase them down to finish the job?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

I have a feeling this might be one of those "check back in in a month" things.

This is going to take a while to unravel.

 

[Gary Coal Man]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

A good percentage of people aren't rational, they're emotional. I bet some fence sitters will lose some sympathy for Brown because of the robbery.

 

[Henry Ford]

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

The chief of police.

So he said both that Wilson "responded to the call" and that "the stop had nothing to do with the robbery"?

In separate press conferences, I believe.

 

[Todd Andrews]

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

The chief of police.

So he said both that Wilson "responded to the call" and that "the stop had nothing to do with the robbery"?

Yes. And he released the video with little or misleading context leaving everyone to jump to the conclusion that the officer knew he was going after a suspect. When he wasnt. And the reporters have been going after him all day so he realized that he had to come out again and clarify and he did that at 3 pm EST today. I think the cops were hamhandedly trying to muddy the waters, criminalize Brown, and create a counternarrative that Brown deserved what happened to him. Pretty sickening.

This police chief is a complete idiot.

 

[kentric]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer.

If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

Even if Brown instigated the fight in the police car with the P.O., there shouldn't be an argument that the P.O. was totally out of bounds in shooting Brown after he disengaged, walked away (at least part of the 35 liters) and threw his hands up. If it went down as described by the witnesses, there is no excuse for Brown being shot the way he was after the initiatl shot.

 

[jonessed]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer. If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

So you'll shoot him in the back as he runs away?

I thought he was walking towards the cop with his hands up when he was shot.

 

[msommer]

(at least part of the 35 liters)

 

[msommer]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer. If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

So you'll shoot him in the back as he runs away?

I thought he was walking towards the cop with his hands up when he was shot.

Allegedly he was also shot in the back

 

[Guest]

Maybe I missed it, but did we get an official report that Brown was shot in the back? Or just from the witnesses? I'm asking because I don't know.

Shot once up close. Shot again in the back. Then he puts his hands up and faces the officer?

 

[badmojo1006]

Yes, I'm still catching up the last few pages - should have done so before posting. But if there was no connection, then where did the above (mis)information come from?

The chief of police.

So he said both that Wilson "responded to the call" and that "the stop had nothing to do with the robbery"?

Yes. And he released the video with little or misleading context leaving everyone to jump to the conclusion that the officer knew he was going after a suspect. When he wasnt. And the reporters have been going after him all day so he realized that he had to come out again and clarify and he did that at 3 pm EST today. I think the cops were hamhandedly trying to muddy the waters, criminalize Brown, and create a counternarrative that Brown deserved what happened to him. Pretty sickening.

This police chief is a complete idiot.

The Police Chief will be put on administrative leave within the week, and then quietly retired within a month

 

[matttyl]

Maybe I missed it, but did we get an official report that Brown was shot in the back? Or just from the witnesses? I'm asking because I don't know.

Shot once up close. Shot again in the back. Then he puts his hands up and faces the officer?

That's the story, and maybe it takes a 6'4" guy to have two bullets in him to still be able to be on his feet and raise his hands. If so, that's one seriously tough dude, even at 18.

 

[Todd Andrews]

This appears to be a contemporaneous eyewitness livetweeting Saturday's event. Fascinating.

 

[hagmania]

This appears to be a contemporaneous eyewitness livetweeting Saturday's event. Fascinating.

The picture of him laying there in the street. Damn.

 

[Guest]

Maybe I missed it, but did we get an official report that Brown was shot in the back? Or just from the witnesses? I'm asking because I don't know.

Shot once up close. Shot again in the back. Then he puts his hands up and faces the officer?

That's the story, and maybe it takes a 6'4" guy to have two bullets in him to still be able to be on his feet and raise his hands. If so, that's one seriously tough dude, even at 18.

I'm not trying to discredit the witnesses. Adrenaline can do some amazing things and the shots were probably not center mass. Just wondering if we had heard anything "official"?

 

[Todd Andrews]

Well, apparently it is important to the police that everyone know Brown robbed a store 10 minutes before he was killed, but wont say whether he was shot in the back or how many times he was shot. This is all very crazy and pretty sickening.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

I'm back to death penalty.

 

[Guest]

Well, apparently it is important to the police that everyone know Brown robbed a store 10 minutes before he was killed, but wont say whether he was shot in the back or how many times he was shot. This is all very crazy and pretty sickening.

Yep, that really doesn't look good.

 

[Christo]

"I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I knew it didn't look right for someone to be wrestling with the police through the police window, but I didn't get a video because a shot was fired through the window, so I tried to get out of the way," Mitchell said.


Mitchell then described what she saw happen between Brown and the police officer.

"As I pull onto the side, the kid, he finally gets away, he starts running. As he runs the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him, shooting," Mitchell said. "And the kid's body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turns around and puts his hands up like this, and the cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground and his face just smacks the concrete."

Mitchell clarified she heard a shot after she saw Brown trying to pull away from the cop, and said even after Brown turned to face the cop and put his hands in the air, "the cop continued to come up on him and shoot him until he fell down to the ground." She said she counted "more than about five or six shots."

Mitchell also said she only saw one officer involved in the incident, and described him as a "white male, kind of tall, not too big."

Mitchell said she received no pressure to change her story from detectives who on the case, but said the cops that arrived at the scene "were very rude" to bystanders and "didn't want to tell" the public what had happened.

"They showed no kind of remorse for what happened to the kid at all," she said.

Mitchell's attorney said she gave a statement to the St. Louis County detectives right after the incident.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/tiffany-mitchell-michael-brown_n_5677003.html

She sounds like a credible witness, why does she need an attorney?

You can laugh all you want....She witnessed a crime.....she tells her version of what she saw......she goes home until there is a trial....She didn't do anything wrong, she didn't commit a crime..... Interview Room: So miss Mitchell what did you see the day Mr. Brown was shot?.... Attorney for Mitchell :...Don't answer that?....WTF.....Unless you think that the Ferguson Police Department, the State Police, The FBI and the State attorney are all corrupt. Ridiculous.....Who is going to pay for her expenses?

I would agree with you if this were a run-of-the-mill situation that no one other than the participants cared about. But there is going to be tremendous pressure put on her from all different directions. She needs someone to keep the dogs at bay.

And your last question is irrelevant.

 

[whitem0nkey]

map here

this guys was fast!

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I am genuinely mystified about the police's communication plan here.

I actually have a hard time believing that the chief was actively seeking to simply discredit Brown, but It's just mind boggling to think that he'd release the information he released without also disclosing that the victim wasn't stopped for the robbery. I want to believe it's just extreme incompetence, but it's been days. There has to be someone who understands how to deal with the media on the scene by now.

 

[Todd Andrews]

I am genuinely mystified about the police's communication plan here.

I actually have a hard time believing that the chief was actively seeking to simply discredit Brown, but It's just mind boggling to think that he'd release the information he released without also disclosing that the victim wasn't stopped for the robbery. I want to believe it's just extreme incompetence, but it's been days. There has to be someone who understands how to deal with the media on the scene by now.

Truly stunning if not intentional. I believe that it was intentional because the police chief also said that the officer was responding to the robbery, which was not true. I think he was forced to come clean because of the press was all over him all day on that point (they were the ones submitting FOIAs he claimed forced him to release that video and they wanted and still want a lot more than that video).

 

[Courtjester]

Yeah, a few pages back I was advancing grounds for a reasonable doubt defense for this officer, but after the Chief's latest round of bumbling comments, I got nothing. He needs to take a few plays off and stop talking.

However, I am sickened by CNN's coverage, Their front page of their site had a big headline about the shooting, then right below in a little smaller letters: "Shooter was white."

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I am genuinely mystified about the police's communication plan here.

I actually have a hard time believing that the chief was actively seeking to simply discredit Brown, but It's just mind boggling to think that he'd release the information he released without also disclosing that the victim wasn't stopped for the robbery. I want to believe it's just extreme incompetence, but it's been days. There has to be someone who understands how to deal with the media on the scene by now.

Truly stunning if not intentional. I believe that it was intentional because the police chief also said that the officer was responding to the robbery, which was not true. I think he was forced to come clean because of the press was all over him all day on that point (they were the ones submitting FOIAs he claimed forced him to release that video and they wanted and still want a lot more than that video).

The only reason I'm having a hard time believing it was intentional is that it's somehow 10X stupider to do it intentionally than out of incompetence. He thought nobody would ask? God forbid the original officer actually has something like a defense, because the chief has left the guy's ### hanging out in the wind.

 

[Henry Ford]

Ferguson PD chief says initial contact between officer Wilson and Mike Brown had nothing to do with alleged theft at store.

This weakens the officer's reason for stopping Brown and it may even weaken the officer's claim of self defense (if that's what he argues) because the officer would not be, in his mind, trying to arrest someone who had recently evidenced violent tendencies. The officer likely would still argue he feared for his life due to the size difference and Brown allegedly reaching for his gun.Even if the robbery plays no role in the subsequent interaction between the officer or in a potential murder trial, the robbery probably causes Brown to lose some support in the court of public opinion. It'll now be easier for some people to dismiss Brown as a thug who got his.

People who would dismiss Brown as a thug who got his are already in the anti-Brown camp. If it played out the way the witnesses claim, no rational person is going to consider Brown as deserving the treatment he received.

If the cop stopped Brown, who incidentally robbed a convenience store just prior, for walking in the road, it's conceivable to think Brown thought he was actually being stopped for the robbery, and therefore was ready to be confrontational with the officer. If I'm armed, and someone tries to get physical with me, they're either going to back off quickly or die. I'm not letting them become the armed aggressor.

So you'll shoot him in the back as he runs away?

I thought he was walking towards the cop with his hands up when he was shot.

I believe he was allegedly shot 5 or 6 times.

 

[BigJohn]

map here

this guys was fast!

Not that far. Could easily be walked in 10 minutes.