Ferguson Aftermath, Day 2

Once again, updating from the top, all times ET.  See my blow-by-blow for last night.

7:00  NYT editorial goes after prosecutor on several levels. 

First, he refused to step aside in favor of a special prosecutor who could have been appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri. He further undermined public confidence by taking a highly unorthodox approach to the grand jury proceeding. Instead of conducting an investigation and then presenting the case and a recommendation of charges to the grand jury, his office shifted its job to the grand jury. It made no recommendation on whether to indict the officer, Darren Wilson, but left it to the jurors to wade through masses of evidence to determine whether there was probable cause to file charges against Officer Wilson for Mr. Brown’s killing.

Under ordinary circumstances, grand jury hearings can be concluded within days. The proceeding in this case lasted an astonishing three months. And since grand jury proceedings are held in secret, the drawn-out process fanned suspicions that Mr. McCulloch was deliberately carrying on a trial out of public view, for the express purpose of exonerating Officer Wilson.

If all this weren’t bad enough, Mr. McCulloch took a reckless approach to announcing the grand jury’s finding.

5:30  Darren Wilson tells ABC he has a "clean conscience" after fatally shooting Michael Brown.

2:30 p.m. Ezra Klein finds Wilson's story "unbelievable." Myself, I'm still baffled by the body found 150 feet from the car with accounts, including Wilson's, that Brown did not run far at all, and then ran back toward him.  How do we get to 150 feet?  Or has that distance been misreported?

10:30 Post at The Atlantic quotes from half a dozen witness testimonies, and suggests there was enough on Brown "charging" or moving toward the cop to back Wilson story and to cause grand jury to not indict. 

9:20  NYT blogging the morning events in Ferguson, with clergy march underway and more.  Also they say photos show Wilson's facial injury just an "abrasion."  There were 21 arrests in nearby St. Louis--and of 61 arrests in Ferguson only 8 were for people outside the state.

9:10  NY Daily News prepared  Killer Cop cover page, then switched to a softer version. 

9:00 a.m.  Epic on-air battle between Don Lemon and Van Jones on CNN, with Don hitting burning and looting and Van claiming it was just a few "knuckleheads."

8:45  Full NYT report on the reaction in Ferguson and police calling it clearly a "riot."  And elsewhere.

8:25 a.m.  Link to 4700 pages of grand jury testimony and evidence.