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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wednesday Updates on Ferguson

Not sure why media and most locals seem okay with shooting of the young blac  man with knife--now IDed as Kajieme Powell, age 25, near Ferguson, trusting police account.  Indeed, the account itself may be mainly accurate but the fact remains, the dead man was known to have severe mental issues and even with knife was there no other option for two white cops, such as tasering or momentary retreat.  Chris Hayes among those who seem thrilled that the police chief there waded into crowd to take questions--but that doesn't mean the shooting itself was fully warranted.  Just asking.  This young man was just a bit older than Mike Brown--and allegedly mentally impaired.  Earlier Hayes had tweeted:   "People here not disputing the knife, but all asking 'why not shoot him in the leg?'  'I thought they were supposed to have training.'"

Wall St. Journal editorial board member Jason Riley, a black man, advises on Fox:  “These looters and rioters do not need to hear from the attorney general that criticism of Obama is race-based. What they need to hear from this Black man in this position — the nation’s leading law enforcement official — is that they need to stay out of trouble with the law. They need to pull up their pants and finish school and take care of their kids. That is the message they need to hear.”

Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic asks if cop who threatened journo on tape will be prosecuted, you know, equal treatment. 

Harrowing account of cops very late last night chasing and threatening with shooting a group of activists, hip hoppers, media.  After quieter night, still dozens arrested. 

Chris Cuomo on CNN raising issue of Mike Brown's possible "juvenile record" as relevant, which Antonio French disputes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read yesterday that there were 40,000 paramilitary assaults on non violent suspects' homes in the US last year as part of our Drug Wars. This was up from 30K in the 90s and only 3000 in the 80s.

Of course, none of these raids happened in my neighborhood, and I'm pretty sure they didn't happen where Obama, Holder, and the token black guy at the WSJ live. But I suppose the WSJ advice is good. Pull up your pants, get a good education (somehow) and get yourself on the fun side of the class war.