Ms. Ball,
The phrase "refused to indict" indicates that somehow the grand jury acted contrary to an instruction toindict. From where or whom did that instruction come, and what power would that entity feel it had to control the workings of a grand jury?
Is there some other firmly established evidence or information that you have that would sway my opinion? If so, will you share with me?
Thank you.
On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 9:58 PM, Corinne Ball, MoveOn.org Civic Action <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>wrote:
Dear MoveOn member,
Last night, a St. Louis grand jury refused to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the brutal killing of 18-year-old Mike Brown.Missouri's politicians and political system have failed to seek justice for Mike Brown. If the story ends here,the person responsible for Mike Brown's death, Officer Darren Wilson, may never be held accountable—and will never be tried in a court of law.But the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Mike Brown's death, too, and has the power to arrest and prosecute Officer Darren Wilson under federal criminal charges. So our friends at the civil rights organization ColorOfChange.org have launched a petition calling for the Department of Justice to do exactly that.President Obama and Attorney General Holder's actions in this moment will have a major impact—not just on Mike Brown's family, but for the broader cause of ending racial profiling, discriminatory policing, and police brutality in America. Will you sign ColorOfChange's petition demanding justice for Mike Brown now?–Corinne
Dear MoveOn member,I'm Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, and I started a petition to President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and the United States Department of Justice, which says:A St. Louis grand jury has refused to indict Officer Darren Wilson, who targeted and killed 18-year-old Black teenager Mike Brown more than three months ago. I urge you to do everything in your power to secure justice for Mike Brown and the people of Missouri. I call on you to arrest and prosecute Officer Darren Wilson to the fullest extent of federal law, and to defend protesters' First Amendment right to free speech.
As president and U.S. attorney general, you have both the power and responsibility to secure justice for Mike Brown and systemic reforms to law enforcement. I urge you to take definitive action to indict Officer Darren Wilson and to overhaul the policies and practices that led to Mike Brown's death, as well as those that perpetuate the nationwide crisis of discriminatory policing.Yesterday, a St. Louis grand jury refused to indict Mike Brown's killer—police officer Darren Wilson. On August 9, the nation was horrified to learn that Mike Brown was targeted and killed by police as he walked down the street with a friend.Now his killer may never be held accountable—unless President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Holder take action. The Department of Justice has the power to arrest and prosecute Officer Wilson under federal criminal charges. Raise your voice today to ensure our national leaders secure justice for Mike Brown immediately.Thank you.–Rashad Robinson
how about a petition to prosecute the looters and agitators?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't refuse. They DECIDED based on the EVIDENCE. The end.
ReplyDeleteBrown got his justice.
ReplyDeleteJustice for officer Wilson!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that someone start a petition on the same sight requesting that the federal investigation into the case be terminated, since the grand jury didn't find sufficient evidence of a crime. If there's no crime, the officer followed procedure and the shooting was justified, then there's no racial profiling or reason for a federal investigation.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the person that does this will be labeled a racist for even considering it.
The first round of Ferguson rioting back in August took everyone by surprise, but this time authorities had more than three months to prepare. They had the ability to control precisely when the grand jury decision would be announced and how many cops and National Guard troops would be deployed on the streets.
ReplyDeleteBut despite all this, the violence in Ferguson on Monday night was even worse than we witnessed back in August. Either this was a case of almost unbelievable incompetence, or there was someone out there that actually wanted this to happen.
If someone out there is actually trying to provoke more violence in Ferguson, then the rioters are being played like a fiddle. Most of them have no idea that they could potentially just be pawns in a game that is far larger than they ever imagined. The only other alternative to explain what we just saw is incompetence on a level that is absolutely laughable. Something definitely does not smell right about all of this, and let us hope that at some point the American people get the truth.
#1 Federal, state and local law enforcement authorities had more than three months to prepare for the violence that would follow the announcement of the grand jury decision. The mainstream media endlessly hyped this controversy and everyone knew that trouble would be brewing. But despite an enormous amount of time to prepare, very little was actually done to prevent any violence from happening.
#2 Someone made the decision to make the public announcement about the grand jury decision in the evening. Anyone involved in law enforcement knows that crowd control is far more difficult after dark. This also ensured that instead of being tied up with work or school, a maximum number of protesters would be able to be involved in the violence.
#3 Fortunately for the mainstream media, the announcement of the grand jury decision was perfectly timed to provide the largest possible number of prime time viewers for the big news networks.
#4 Just like back in August, no law enforcement authorities of any kind responded while dozens of businesses were vandalized, looted and set of fire.
#5 According to Ferguson Mayor James Knowles, National Guard troops were purposely held back from intervening in the rioting that was unleashed when the grand jury decision was made known to the public…
In a press conference, he called the delay “deeply concerning” and said the Guard troops were available but were not deployed when city officials asked.
The troops had been readied last week by Gov. Jay Nixon as the grand jury announcement neared. But as gunshots rang out in the night and looters torched buildings, they were nowhere to be seen.
#6 It is being reported that the heavily armed National Guard troops were limited to “keeping the peace at a courthouse, patrolling the outskirts of town and preventing disturbances in other suburbs” as horrific violence raged in the heart of Ferguson on Monday night.
ReplyDelete#7 Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder has accused Missouri Governor Jay Nixon of holding back the National Guard troops because of pressure from the Obama administration. On Monday night, he angrily made the following statement to Fox News…
Is the reason that the National Guard was not in there because the Obama Administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on you to keep them out? I cannot imagine any other reason why the governor who mobilized the National Guard would not have them in there to stop this.
#8 The Washington Post has documented that Attorney General Eric Holder had been in direct contact with Governor Nixon and had expressed “frustration” with the fact that the National Guard had been activated…
A top aide to Holder called the governor’s office earlier this week to express Holder’s displeasure and “frustration,” according to a Justice Department official.
“Instead of de-escalating the situation, the governor escalated it,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject. “He sent the wrong message. The tone of the press conference was counterproductive.”
#9 Firefighters in Ferguson did not immediately respond to calls to put out the multiple fires that were set by protesters. As a result, many businesses essentially burned to the ground. But this did make for some amazing television footage.
#10 In the worst of the “war zones,” journalists with cameras and microphones were crawling all over the place while there were hardly any police to be seen at all. How is it possible that law enforcement could have failed so badly? Could it be possible that this was orchestrated on purpose?
Sadly, as I have written about previously, the civil unrest that we are witnessing in Ferguson is just a small preview of what is coming to America.
The anger and frustration that are seething under the surface in this country have reached a boiling point. Instead of coming together, we are seemingly more divided than ever. Americans have been trained to hate one another, fear one another and blame one another. I fear that we are not too far away from actually becoming ungovernable.
And when the next major wave of the economic crisis strikes and we start experiencing real suffering in this nation, the temper tantrums that we are going to witness in our major cities are going to make what is happening in Ferguson right now look like a Sunday picnic.
So buckle up and hold on, because it is going to be a really bumpy ride from here on out.
Ferguson is not the end – it is just the beginning of a horrible new chapter in American history.
To give credit: This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone knew what the outcome would be....but I would NEVER have imagined that they would wait until 9 at night to announce the findings. I cannot understand that. Does national media what the images to be of animals totally out of control, vandalizing and setting the town on fire?? With the economy in such a state what kind of a message does that send? Are these people being paraded out as violent types to be used a pawns in the upcoming meltdown to follow. What is the mentality here? You cannot stop these individuals so they must be shot? Will these people become the road kill of the future?? Is this a grander plan for the future???
ReplyDeleteIf they wanted to stop the looting they should have used the fire trucks. 30 degrees and water don't mix
ReplyDeleteJustice was served!!!
ReplyDeleteI just went to the petition site and looked at a few pages of the petitioners' names and comments. One name and comment popped up three times in about six page turns, each with a separate number. I guess that he feels very strongly about the non-issue.
ReplyDelete"David Nelson from Santa Barbara, CA signed this petition on Nov 26, 2014."
Three things.
ReplyDelete1. Brian Williams of NBC nightly news used the phrase "the grand jury failed to indict".
2. Immediately following the shooting, Eric Holder pressured the Ferguson Police Department not to release any information about the incident (while the narratives of "The Gentle Giant" and "Hands up, don't shoot" were developed).
3. In the aftermath of the shooting, Governor Nixon called for a "vigorous prosecution of Officer Wilson".
Progressives are playing people like a kazoo!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteJustice was served!!!
November 26, 2014 at 1:25 PM
Hate only causes problems. It has never solved any.