From Twitter:
Mo. Attorney General Chris Koster said this when I asked why he came to visit protesters: “These are my bosses. I work for them.
Mo. Attorney General Chris Koster said a grand jury will be convened at 9 am tomorrow. He gave protesters the news
GovJayNixon will not ask McCulloch to recuse himself from
#MikeBrown case
Missouri attny general: grand jury (3 people) for
#michaelbrown case tomorrow includes one woman of color.
Me: This next one I include only to categorically, emphatically condemn it:
Chant of choice tonight is a variation of the “hands up/don’t shoot.” They end it with “shoot back” instead.
Me: Do NOT do that. Shooting back will escalate the situation, and could result in injuries and loss of life. The way to protest loss of rights is not to infringe upon the rights of others.
Just talked to
@slmpd commander John Hayden. He said they are prepared to let protesters stay here all night.
Police trucks across the street from burnt#QT . Barking from caged K-9 units audible.
Parker Jacobs from San Diego. He has first aid training and a first aid bag. Here for peace.
#Ferguson police department dress code : daytime – overtime – weekend
(you won’t understand the above Tweet unless you click the link)
Capt. Ron Johnson says police have been receiving calls of “shooters on top of buildings” in Ferguson
#Ferguson=no joke. Peeps at@CNN handed me THIS before I even got a mic on.#GasMasks for reporters — in USA? Yup.
6yo Alerion Smith asked his mom to bring him to protest. “When someone has their hands up that means they surrender”
Protesters have begun marching in a group of 300. Staying out of the street, for the most part.
Mo. Highway Patrol is asking for ID to drive down Florissant. These teens declined to provide and we’re turned back.
SENDING A MESSAGE: Protestor tells those who’ve sparked
#Ferguson violence to go home.
The United States rejects international criticism of Ferguson Police:
Marie Harf said such countries, which, at best, have mixed records on human rights and free speech, should avoid comparing themselves to the United States.
“We here in the United States will put our record for confronting our problems transparently and honestly and openly up against any other countries in the world,” Harf said. “When we have problems and issues in this country, we deal with them openly and honestly. We think that’s important, and I would encourage the countries you named particularly to do the same thing.”
I can’t believe State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf even uttered those words. The United States does not confront it’s problems transparently and honestly. In a great many cases, the problems aren’t confronted at all. When they are, at best they just give lip service to the problem, without actually tackling the root of the problem.
- We have huge issues with race, as we’ve seen yet again, in the ongoing civil rights and constitutional rights violations occurring in Ferguson, MO (problems which are *not* limited to that city).
- We have major issues with our politicians and political parties that the mainstream media and the government refuse to address.
- We have a Rape Culture that devalues women and normalizes, minimizes, and excuses rape, which is not discussed in the mainstream media or by the government.
- We have the erosion of civil rights for People of Color that have been ongoing, and it doesn’t get addressed.
- Capitalism is worshiped almost as much as christianity in this country and it’s created a huge gap between the haves and the have nots, and that’s rarely discussed.
- Our educational system is slipping compared to other industrialized nations, and creationists keep trying to undermine science in the classrooms, and the MSM and government barely want to tackle that problem.
- Our government is still involved in torturing suspected terrorists
- Across the US, women face the problem of not being able to exercise the full extent of their reproductive rights, thanks to the efforts of the GOP and fundamentalist religious believers, and this problem is one that is not tackled head on.
- The United States is involved in drone attacks in other countries which take innocent lives. Do we see the US talking about this significant violation of human rights? No.
- We have major healthcare issues in the United States, which the ACA only just barely begins to tackle.
- We have people in this country who won’t accept that LGBT people are humans deserving of equality, and neither the media nor the government will tackle this problem head on.
- We have a country with a huge problem with unemployment, yet the government certainly isn’t doing all it can to rectify that, nor are they being transparent about the extent of the problem.
Those are just some of the problems facing the United States. We categorically do not deal with our problems honestly and openly. Half the time, the problems aren’t even admitted. This country is in denial. Deeeeeeeep in denial. The US government has no right to claim a moral high ground on anything.
Earlier today, the National Bar Association filed a lawsuit against the City of Ferguson, MO and the Ferguson Police Department seeking any and all incident reports, investigative reports, notes and memorandums prepared by Ferguson Police officers, in-dash camera video, photographs, cellphone video and recordings in connection with the shooting death of Michael Brown.The National Bar Association also sent a Preservation of Evidence Notice to both entities requesting that they preserve the police officers’ raw notes of all statements, observations, and data collected from the scene of the incident, specifically including the officer involved and all responding officers, officer detail logs from the crime scene, and video & photographic evidence related to the August 9, 2014, fatal shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent arrests of protestors in the City of Ferguson.
“There can be no full, fair and accurate accounting in any state or federal criminal or civil action unless any and all footage is carefully preserved,” stated Pamela J. Meanes, President of the National Bar Association. “We want to ensure the family of Micheal Brown and the residents of St. Louis understand correct measures are being taken to protect evidence regarding this tragic incident.”In wake of the recent events taking place in Ferguson and across the country, the National Bar Association has developed a task force that will evaluate complaints of police misconduct and/or police brutality nationwide, an online petition has been created calling for an independent investigation for the death of Micheal Brown Jr. and an open book request has been filed in 25 cities and states for information on police actions.The lawsuit comes days after the City of Ferguson Police Department released the name of Darren Wilson, the officer identified of shooting Brown.
