The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[LaCroix]

"Because slavery happened, does that mean we owe black people something?"

http://www.whitenessproject.org/

i don't get it

[garbon]

"Because slavery happened, does that mean we owe black people something?"

http://www.whitenessproject.org/

i don't get it

ok?

[LaCroix]

what's its point?

[garbon]

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Whiteness Project is a multiplatform investigation into how Americans who identify as "white" experience their ethnicity.

The project is conducting 1,000 interviews with white people from all walks of life and localities in which they are asked about their relationship to, and their understanding of, their own whiteness. It also includes data drawn from a variety of sources that highlights some quantitative aspects of what it means to be a white American.

This first installment, "Inside the White/Caucasian Box," is a collection of 24 interviews filmed in Buffalo, NY in July 2014. Further installments will be posted in the months to come. To comment, or ask a question, please visit the project's Facebook page.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

While many media projects have investigated the history, culture, and experiences of various American ethnic minorities, there has been much less examination of how white Americans think about and experience their whiteness and how white culture shapes our society. Most people take for granted that there is a "white" race in America, but rarely is the concept of whiteness itself investigated. What does it mean to be a "white"? Can it be genetically defined? Is it a cultural construct? A state of mind? How does one come to be deemed "white" in America and what privileges does being perceived as white bestow? The Whiteness Project is a multi-platform media project that examines both the concept of whiteness itself and how those who identify as "white" process their ethnic identity. The project's goal is to engender debate about the role of whiteness in American society and encourage white Americans to become fully vested participants in the ongoing debate about the role of race in American society.

[LaCroix]

a lot of non-whites don't (edit:) substantially think about race either, though. why is there a need for additional participation "in the ongoing debate about the role of race in American society"?

[grumbler]

a lot of non-whites don't (edit:) substantially think about race either, though. why is there a need for additional participation "in the ongoing debate about the role of race in American society"?

Apparently "whiteness" is an ethnicity now. Who knew?

[jimmy olsen]

What a douche.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/nyregion/man-accuses-officer-of-taking-more-than-1000-video-prompts-investigation.html

Video of Officer Accused of Theft Prompts Inquiry

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
October 8, 2014

Lamard Joye was celebrating his 35th birthday with friends last month near a basketball court in Coney Island, Brooklyn. At some point, the police arrived and stopped a friend of his.

From several feet away, Mr. Joye objected. What happened next is now under investigation by the Brooklyn district attorney's office, which is in possession of a cellphone video of the ensuing confrontation.

The video of the encounter, on Sept. 16 at around 12:20 a.m., shows a police officer steering Mr. Joye against a chain-link fence to pat him down. "Look," Mr. Joye says. "Look, you see this? Look." The police officer reaches into Mr. Joye's pocket, removes what appears to be a folded stack of bills and steps back.

"Give me my money," Mr. Joye says in the video. The police officer then sprays something at him.

Mr. Joye said the officer took more than $1,000 in cash and deployed pepper spray.

In the video, others in the crowd begin protesting. "He just stole his money," says a voice close to the phone's microphone. "How you going to take his money?" someone else says.

Mr. Joye, who was not arrested that night, said he has not gotten his money back; his lawyer, Robert Marinelli, said he has received no explanation of where that money was.

The Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, said his office was "aware of the alleged incident and it is being actively and thoroughly investigated."

The officer's identity is not known. The New York Police Department said in a statement:

"The incident was precipitated by a call of a man with a gun. When officers arrived at the scene, they encountered numerous people at the location. As a result of the allegations, the matter is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau and CCRB," referring to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Mr. Marinelli said he has submitted pay and bank records to the district attorney showing his client, who works in construction, had earned a few thousand dollars in early September and had withdrawn a couple of thousand dollars, intending to celebrate his birthday with his wife.

"I believe that this officer made an assumption that any money Mr. Joye possessed was obtained illegally and therefore he would not report the theft," Mr. Marinelli said. "This assumption was wrong. Mr. Joye is a hardworking taxpayer. An incident like this would never occur in a more affluent section of the city."

The video is one of several taped police encounters that have been publicized since Eric Garner of Staten Island died in July after a confrontation with police that was recorded on video.

The video of Mr. Joye's encounter concludes with his sister, Lateefah Joye, confronting the police officer who patted down her brother.

"What's your name?" she says to the officer, her face a few inches from his. "Say your name."

"It's right there," the officer replies.

"I see it," she says. At that point, the officer sprays something at her.

"I'm not touching you," she says. The officer uses the spray again as the video ends.

[derspiess]

Still think that project is a parody of some sort.

[garbon]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/13/cornel-west-arrested-ferguson-protests/17205907/

Clergy arrested in 'Ferguson October' march

Police arrested clergy members and prominent activist and academic Cornel West on Monday as they led hundreds of protesters in a march to the police station to draw attention to police shootings nationwide.

The protests Monday were the culmination of "Ferguson October" -- four days of activism and civil disobedience sparked by the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed, 18-year-old black man, by a white police officer on Aug. 9 in the St. Louis suburb.

"Moral Monday," as the activists called it, began Monday morning at Wellspring Church in Ferguson. The demonstrators walked two blocks to the police station in heavy rain as leaders with bullhorns read the names of people killed by police nationwide, including Venderrit Myers, Jr, 18, killed last Wednesday by a white police officer in St. Louis. Police say Myers, who is black, shot first.

At the police station, where about 40 police officers in riot gear formed a protective line between marchers and the police station, three activists drew a chalk outline of a man lying on the ground. March organizer Rev. Osagyefo Sekou called it "a memorial for the body of Michael Brown."

"This space has already been sanctified by the youth and we just want to honor what they've done," Sekou said.

Clergy members then faced the police officers and demanded they confess their sins and repent. "Our children, our black children, are being killed. Would you repent?," one woman asked an officer who turned his face away from her.

"We are saying that these officers are members of our society and that they are part of a racist and sinful system," Sekou said. "We are offering them the opportunity to repent and to be reconciled into our community."

As the crowd knelt and prayed before the police, West and Sekou crossed the police line. Police handcuffed both men and put them in a police vehicle. Police arrested at least 12 others.

West told a crowd gathered at an interfaith event on Sunday night that he wanted police to arrest him.

"I didn't come here to give a speech," West said. "I came here to go to jail!"

Protesters clapped as police arrested the men.

"They are doing it for a cause and the cause is a great cause," said Doug Hollis, a cousin of both Michael Brown and Vonderrit Myers. "We are going to keep going strong."

Elsewhere in Ferguson, a coalition of labor and community members blocked the street in front of the headquarters of Emerson Electric,a Fortune 500 company that manufactures power equipment and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide.

"We are calling attention to the economic injustice we live with in Ferguson," said Jermaine Arms of Show Me $5, a labor rights group. "Justice for Mike Brown means justice for all of us. This should be a moment where we all take responsibility for the conditions that his death exposed."

On Friday, protesters marched to the St. Louis County prosecutor's office where they called on prosecutor Bob McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown. Wilson's case is before the grand jury.

[CountDeMoney]

Authorities say Michael Brown's blood found on gun, inside police car
By Sari Horwitz October 18 at 8:07 PM
Washington Post

Forensic evidence shows Michael Brown's blood on the gun, uniform and inside the car of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, law enforcement officials said, information they believe potentially corroborates the officer's story that the unarmed 18-year-old tried to take his gun.

The evidence will make it harder for the Justice Department to prosecute Officer Darren Wilson on federal charges that he violated Brown's civil rights, said the officials, who asked their names be withheld because of the sensitivity of the case.

Such evidence would also make it difficult for a county grand jury to indict Wilson on state charges, such as murder or manslaughter, said county sources who also are prohibited from talking on the record about the pending case.

The St. Louis County police, the FBI and a county grand jury are investigating the shooting. The Justice Department is investigating Ferguson and St. Louis County policing practices and whether they have violated the rights of residents.

Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson declined to comment.

Wilson, who is white, fatally shot Brown, an African American, on Aug. 9 in the majority black St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

The three-minute encounter on a sunny Saturday afternoon has rocked the metro area, which remains on edge as it faces continued protests and waits for the grand jury to decide whether Wilson should face any charges in Brown's death.

The New York Times first reported the forensic evidence Friday, citing "government officials briefed on the federal civil rights investigation."

Officials who spoke to The Washington Post on Saturday said the forensic evidence supports Wilson's account that a scuffle occurred at the police vehicle, that Wilson feared for his life and that Brown went for, or lunged for, his gun. There were two shots fired in the vehicle, including one that hit Brown's arm, an official said.

Wilson, who has not spoken publicly since the shooting, testified before the grand jury last month. His lawyer, James P. Towey Jr., did not return a call seeking comment Saturday.

Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Brown's family, could also not be reached for comment.

He told the Times, however, that Wilson's word isn't "gospel" and that he should be indicted and go to trial.

"The officer's going to say whatever he's going to say to justify killing an unarmed kid," Crump told the Times. "Right now, they have this secret proceeding where nobody knows what's happening and nobody knows what's going on. No matter what happened in the car, Michael Brown ran away from him."

It has never been in question that there was an altercation. Wilson was inside the vehicle and Brown was at the driver's window. From the earliest days police have said that Brown had scuffled with Wilson and that a shot was fired in the vehicle.

In those first police accounts, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said that Brown "allegedly pushed" Wilson back into the car after Wilson tried to open the door. Brown, police said, then "physically assaulted" Wilson, and went for the gun. Wilson fired inside the vehicle, they said. Wilson then got out and killed Brown, Belmar said. Police had said Wilson feared for his life because Brown charged him on the sidewalk.

Dorian Johnson, the 22-year-old who was with Brown when they encountered Wilson, gave another version of events: Wilson encountered them in the street and ordered them onto the sidewalk. Wilson drove past, then backed up and opened the car door so forcefully that it bounced against the two men. Wilson, still in the car, then grabbed Brown by his collar. Brown was trying to free himself and never tried to get the gun. Wilson drew his gun and threatened to shoot, then it went off. Johnson and Brown then ran.

Several other witnesses recounted activity at the car, but each said they were unclear about the nature of that encounter. They have offered varied though fundamentally similar versions of what happened afterward. Brown, witnesses said, was fleeing when Wilson opened fire on the street. After being hit by a bullet, Brown turned around with his hands up, trying to surrender, when the officer shot him several more times, they said.

Exactly how high Brown's hands were has been inconsistent in the accounts and at least one witness said after Brown was shot he appeared to take a step toward Wilson. That witness said, however, Brown had his arms around his stomach before hitting the ground.

Brown was shot at least six times, according to three autopsies.

On Saturday, law enforcement officials declined to discuss what happened outside Wilson's vehicle. St. Louis area authorities declined to comment Saturday.

Protests were explosive after the shooting, when demonstrators squared off against police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse crowds. Images of police patrolling the streets during the day and clashing with demonstrators at night shocked many and drew concern from the White House and some Washington lawmakers.

Some protest organizers said they were unmoved by the forensic details, noting there's no explanation provided of why Wilson continued to fire at Brown, who witnesses said was fleeing.

"It (does) make us more convinced that there's not going to be an indictment," said activist Deray McKesson.

A grand jury decision is expected sometime in November, according to the St. Louis County prosecutor's office.

[garbon]

No comment?

[CountDeMoney]

Nothing to say.  The only thing "blood on the gun, uniform and inside the car" tells you is that blood goes everywhere when the human body is struck by a bullet at short range.  But I knew that already.

I'm still waiting for the cop to write his report of the incident, which he apparently still has not done.

[derspiess]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/official-autopsy-shows-michael-brown-had-close-range-wound-to/article_e98a4ce0-c284-57c9-9882-3fb7df75fef6.html

Official autopsy shows Michael Brown had close-range wound to his hand, marijuana in system

Autopsy of Michael Brown indicates he reached for cop's gun and had pot in system
WPIX - New York

October 22, 2014 8:55 am  •  By Christine Byers [email protected] 314-340-8087 and Blythe Bernhard [email protected] 314-340-8129Loading...

ST. LOUIS COUNTY • The official autopsy on Michael Brown shows that he was shot in the hand at close range, according to an analysis of the findings by two experts not involved directly in the case.

The accompanying toxicology report shows he had been using marijuana.

Those documents, prepared by the St. Louis County medical examiner and obtained by the Post-Dispatch, provide the most detailed description to date of the wounds Brown sustained in a confrontation Aug. 9 with Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.

A source with knowledge of Wilson's statements said the officer had told investigators that Brown had struggled for Wilson's pistol inside a police SUV and that Wilson had fired the gun twice, hitting Brown once in the hand. Later, Wilson fired additional shots that killed Brown and ignited a national controversy.

The St. Louis medical examiner, Dr. Michael Graham, who is not part of the official investigation, reviewed the autopsy report for the newspaper. He said Tuesday that it "does support that there was a significant altercation at the car."

Graham said the examination indicated a shot traveled from the tip of Brown's right thumb toward his wrist. The official report notes an absence of stippling, powder burns around a wound that indicate a shot fired at relatively short range.

But Graham said, "Sometimes when it's really close, such as within an inch or so, there is no stipple, just smoke."

The report on a supplemental microscopic exam of tissue from the thumb wound showed foreign matter "consistent with products that are discharged from the barrel of a firearm."

Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in San Francisco, said the autopsy "supports the fact that this guy is reaching for the gun, if he has gunpowder particulate material in the wound." She added, "If he has his hand near the gun when it goes off, he's going for the officer's gun."

Sources told the Post-Dispatch that Brown's blood had been found on Wilson's gun.

Melinek also said the autopsy did not support witnesses who have claimed Brown was shot while running away from Wilson, or with his hands up.

She said Brown was facing Wilson when Brown took a shot to the forehead, two shots to the chest and a shot to the upper right arm. The wound to the top of Brown's head would indicate he was falling forward or in a lunging position toward the shooter; the shot was instantly fatal.

A sixth shot that hit the forearm traveled from the back of the arm to the inner arm, which means Brown's palms could not have been facing Wilson, as some witnesses have said, Melinek said. That trajectory shows Brown probably was not taking a standard surrender position with arms above the shoulders and palms out when he was hit, she said.

The county medical examiner, Dr. Mary Case, could not be reached. The assistant who performed the autopsy, Dr. Gershom Norfleet, relayed word that he would not comment.

That post mortem, conducted the morning after Brown's death, comports in most ways with the findings of a private autopsy arranged by Brown's family and made public Aug. 18.

In that one, Dr. Michael M. Baden, a nationally known forensic pathologist, said none of Brown's wounds appeared to have been from shots fired at close range.

Baden noted then that there was no gunshot residue on the body, so it appeared to him that the muzzle of the weapon was at least one or two feet away. He said, "It could have been 30 feet away."

A third autopsy was ordered by federal officials as part of their separate investigation of the shooting. Results of that one have not been revealed.

The county and private autopsies agree on the number and location of the wounds.

The official autopsy also confirmed that tissue from Brown was found on the exterior of the driver's side of Wilson's vehicle.

"Someone got an injury that tore off skin and left it on the car," Graham said. "That fits with everything else that came out. There's blood in the car, now skin on the car, that shows something happened right there."

The toxicology test, performed by a St. Louis University laboratory, revealed tetrahydrocannabinol, THC for short, in Brown's blood and urine.

Alfred Staubus, a consultant in forensic toxicology at the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, said that THC could impair judgment or slow reaction times but that there was no reliable measurement to make those conclusions.

States that have legalized marijuana have struggled with the issue of how to measure impairment.

"The detection of THC in the postmortem blood of Michael Brown really indicates his recent use of marijuana (within a few hours) and that he may or may not have been impaired at the time of his death," Staubus wrote in an email.

[derspiess]

Also http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-evidence-supports-officers-account-of-shooting-in-ferguson/2014/10/22/cf38c7b4-5964-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch late Tuesday night published Brown's official county autopsy report, an analysis of which also suggests that the 18-year-old may not have had his hands raised when he was fatally shot, as has been the contention of protesters who have demanded Wilson's arrest.

[...]

Jurors have also seen the St. Louis County autopsy report, including toxicology test results for Brown that show he had tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. The Post's sources said the levels in Brown's body may have been high enough to trigger hallucinations.

[Barrister]

Also http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-evidence-supports-officers-account-of-shooting-in-ferguson/2014/10/22/cf38c7b4-5964-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch late Tuesday night published Brown's official county autopsy report, an analysis of which also suggests that the 18-year-old may not have had his hands raised when he was fatally shot, as has been the contention of protesters who have demanded Wilson's arrest.

[...]

Jurors have also seen the St. Louis County autopsy report, including toxicology test results for Brown that show he had tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. The Post's sources said the levels in Brown's body may have been high enough to trigger hallucinations.

You can't tell shit from THC levels in the bloodstream.