One ongoing theme of this blog has been, “get both sides of the issue before you judge.” A classic example of why is the 20-part series in this blog that ran from July 13, 2013 into September of that year. CNN and some other “news” outlets made the shooting of a young attacker by an armed citizen into a racist murder to rival the lynching of Emmett Till, and that became a lynching all its own before a jury heard the facts and saw the evidence and acquitted George Zimmerman.
We’re seeing something of a replay of that in Ferguson, Missouri in the still-controversial shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by police officer Darren Wilson. CNN has at least put a few voices of reason on the air, such as David Klinger and Mark O’Mara, whose message is one I share: “We can’t judge until we have all the evidence, and we don’t have that yet!”
I just got home from California, where amidst the whole media blitz I ran across a couple of issues of an alternative newspaper out of their state Capitol, the Sacramento News & Review. Amidst the usual “The shooting of Brown is unconscionable” (8/28/14, Page 15) stuff, I found this refreshing bit of honesty by the paper’s on-the-ground-in-Ferguson reporter, Sean Stout:
“I didn’t feel like a journalist for a single second I was in Ferguson,” wrote Stout on Page 9 of the same edition. “I felt like a Brown supporter. I sided with the Ferguson organizers yearning for peace, racial equality and justice for the senseless murder of an unarmed youth.”
Well, Sean Stout, God bless you at least for saying so. The “unconscionable” statement was in an essay/editorial, where opinions including that one belong. Stout’s statement and article were in the News section. He gave total disclosure that what he was writing in “news” was in fact “opinion.”
And that’s a lot more honesty than I’ve seen in a lot of the rest of the mainstream media as regards this case, from reporters and news editors who are just as biased to one side as Stout, but don’t have the integrity to admit it.
If Officer Darren Wilson, an average size man judging by photos, turned into Elastic Man and reached up from the seat of his patrol car and grabbed the six-foot-four Mr. Brown by the throat and brutalized him, and then shot him in the back as he ran – as some of his accusers say – he deserves to go to prison. But if – as his defenders say – he was attacked violently by Brown, who tried to take his gun and kill him with it, and then shot Brown when he turned from a short run away and lunged again at the officer he had already seriously injured, it has all the hallmarks of a justifiable homicide.
Which is it? With so much evidence still out…
We. Can’t. Yet. KNOW!
I’m not alone in thinking this way. Here’s an excellent essay by Stephen Hunter, probably the most gun-savvy contemporary novelist out there today: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/08/stephen-hunter-thoughts-on-ferguson.php .
Very well said Mass.
I’m quite curious why there has been a media overlook of the Dillon Taylor shooting in Utah? Ironically it involved a black Police officer killing an unarmed white young male. This occurred days after the Ferguson shooting.
It leaves one to believe that blacks killing black in Chicago is just as acceptable as blacks killing whites in America.
I’ll just leave this here…http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/18965-black-cop-kills-unarmed-white-youth-media-and-feds-silent
I can’t remember who it was but a reporter of some fame ( but not to me ) left Ferguson after two days decrying the media circus of ineptitude. He said he could not in good conscience be a part of what was going on. Sorry i don’t know who it was but he was there for Al Jezera (sp?).
Hard to say what really happened, there’s been so many stories coming out. About one a day for awhile early on.
Mr. Hunter’s article was interesting. The information it held would be of tremendous value but the people who need to learn from it would eat sh*t before they admitted there could be truth in it.
Criminal rioters beginning with Gov. Nixon don’t want the truth, they want black criminal behavior for their political agenda
Exactly.
The final sentence in the good piece by Stephen Hunter says it all: “Thus reportage on shooting incidents is always woefully flawed by ignorance and the public is ill-served, as in this disgraceful case.” Hopefully, the Grand Jury will be influenced solely by the facts in evidence rather than the impassioned and biased reporting.
First, it is my understanding that Officer Wilson was driving a full size SUV, so he would rather just reach out, and not up, to grab Brown.
Second, I have seen a photo of Wilson in which he appears to be average sized, but I have also seen a photo and video of Wilson receiving a commendation and he appears muscular and to be a full head taller than the presenter, and could pass as a 240 pound weightlifter. Now I have no idea of Wilson’s actual size, but I have a suspicion if he is 5’10” and 170 pounds, that fact would have leaked by now.
The bullet wounds, specifically those to the forearm and hand. Dr. Baden’s diagram shows wounds on the front, the body and arms in the anatomical position. The problem is, no one walks around or does anything with the arms in that position, forearms rotated out and palms facing forward. If you rotate the arms to a normal position, forearms inward and the palms now facing inward, two or three of those wounds can become entrance wounds from the rear, if Brown was walking or running away from Wilson and Wilson fired a volley as he fled. I’m not saying Officer Wilson fired at a fleeing Brown, but four independent witnesses are claiming something to the affect, and Dr. Baden and his assistant have on numerous occasions have reported that between one and three of those wounds “could” have come from the rear.
Finally, using the Tuller Drill as a guide, a dangerous threat can cover 21 feet in one and one half seconds. There is an alleged audio of the shots fired that day, and the two strings of shots lasted approximately 6 1/2 seconds, that’s potentially 90 feet of distance covered. Now providing the audio is verified, if Wilson started firing when Brown began his charge, as is being reported, Wilson potentially began firing when Brown was at least 90 feet away from himself. Problematic?
I look forward to reading Wilson’s statement, or hearing his testimony, and the statements of the 12 witnesses supporting his action that afternoon and I hope I can then give some opinions favorable toward Officer Wilson, but it is impossible to do so at this time.
“something to that effect”
Locally, we had a black man shot and killed by 2 white cops, a few years ago. 2 black witnesses that were the
most vociferous in the news and on talk radio contradicted the officers statements. When they were to testify before a Grand Jury, under oath of course, they had left town to visit family. Upon returning they were arrested for failure to obey a court order, found guilty and paid a fine. Higher courts threw out the conviction and said that the StatesAttorney should have accommodated the plans of the 2 witnesses!
Mas, I ordered your new book on Amazon, It is going to be a long wait for its release in Dec.
Apparently lots of witnesses with conflicting stories because no one saw the entire incident and will fill in gaps in what they saw from their imagination.
The forensic evidence will be crucial in arriving at which of the statements are most reasonable. Does the officer show wounds of an attack. Are there similar wounds on the attackers hands. Then there is the evidence of the bullet tracks, and perhaps powder burns. Which statements do they fit best.
What worries me is that even if the evidence clears the officer their will be trouble when the verdict is announced.
The commendation was presented to Officer Wilson by the Ferguson Chief of Police who is a head shorter than everybody in almost any group.
Three forensic pathologists report that all bullets entered Brown from the front.
Even CNN has backed off on the audio tape’s authenticity, admitting it may be hoax.
The Tueller Drill demonstrates what is possible, not a constant that can be plugged into a formula to get an absolute answer as to time and distance in a crime scene.
Time and factual evidence will eventually prove the guilt or innocence of Officer Wilson. Thank God that prosecutions are not made on the far-fetched thought processes and possible scenarios we’ve seen described by some. It was attempted against George Zimmerman. I would hope that people have learned better.
The facts are irrelevant. Reichsfuehrer Holder needs to nail that cop to the wall for the Democrats. With 40 FBI agents out to get him you can bet those Form 302s will reflect whatever Rf Holder’s DOJ wants them to.
If you ask me, I say that the blacks that are claiming racial inequality in this case are badly misguided. I think they are looking for any reason they can to loot a store. What sense does it make to burn, rob and loot a store because a cop killed another thug in your neighborhood? What about all the thugs that killed another thug in their neighborhood? One would think that the “white man holding me down” card would not be able to be played after a black man was elected president. I don’t know how many news reports I heard that said an unarmed black teenager was killed by a white police officer. First of all, an 18 year old MAN is able to be tried as an adult and able to be drafted into service to go fight for our country. He’s no child. He may still act like a child, but that’s another issue. Secondly, If it is not about race, why does the ethnicity of the two involved need to be mentioned? The headlines should say “Cop kills 18 year old man suspected of robbing a store and assaulting an officer.” We will know all the facts soon and you’ll see that that is the case.
So far, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have not shown any interest in the Salt Lake City shooting. And Benjamin Crump has not filed a shakedown suit against SLC, the FBI is not investigating the case, and Reichsfuhrer/Reich Minister of Propaganda Eric Holder has not bused in any spontaneous protesters (i.e., rioters).
I do not claim that the incident in Salt Lake City was necessarily a bad shooting. What news reports I’ve seen indicate that the decedent was unarmed and not resisting, but if one thing is certain, it’s that the MSM are not reliable or trustworthy. I’m willing to consider all possibilities, and to wait for more facts, before forming an opinion.
Maybe the cop is a badge-heavy bully (or a panicky hothead) who shot the decedent for no good reason. More likely, a well-intentioned cop made a tragic mistake when he was forced to make a life-or-death decision in a split second. Or maybe the guy really had a weapon and was threatening the cop, and the shooting was justified. (And even if he was unarmed, he may have been a martial arts expert or something. “Unarmed” does not necessarily mean “harmless.”)
But, if you are willing to consider those same possibilities in the Ferguson case, and if you are willing to allow the Ferguson cop that same benefit of doubt, then you will be called a racist.
With respect to arm position, the normal position of the arms with the palms facing the body is achieved with a rotation of the bones of the lower arm. The wounds noted by the coroner/medical examiner are not necessarily inconsistant with coming from a forward direction. The details made public aren’t really sufficient to establish wound direction by those of us without specialized training. The points made on a diagram are a rough visual reference lacking the detailed description in the autopsy.
You’ll never see Mr Hunters little article on the pages of his former employer (Washington Post).
Spot-on, as usual.
Hmmm. Six shots not too many. Seems reasonable. Six shots six hits.
Now that’s extraordinary for someone not aiming and running on adrena-
line. A 100% hit rate. But not if 10 (I counted 11)shots were fired over a
12 second period with a 3 second pause in the middle. Perhaps Mr. Hunter
could work on his essay again using that scenario instead.
Mas seems to be preaching to the choir here and many reporters were doing
likewise in Ferguson. There is a paucity of facts in the public domain at this
time and it will be interesting to see those when they finally come out. Before
then it’s all speculation.
There are enough odd things to give a reasonable person pause, though.
A police chief that changes what Wilson knew twice in 2 days. A key witness,
Brown’s friend, who wasn’t interviewed till the 4th day. Didn’t care what
he had to say? An incident report that may or may not exist even though
standard procedure is to write up one immediately. A lawsuit by the ACLU
to obtain the incident report and the only thing provided is a one sheet
page with date of incident dated twelve days after the shooting with no
details and without even the victims name.
It’s not hard to understand why the community feels they were not going
to get a fair shake from the get go. Mr. Wilson has had plenty of time to
conform his story to all the witnesses public comments – if he was so inclined
to, of course. This too, is speculation.
As far as the law and due process is concerned, you’re right Mas.
But out here in public opinion, the Duck Analogy applies.
If it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck and shakes its tail feathers like a duck, the likelihood is beyond great that you’re looking at a DUCK.
The problem with the Zimmerman case and with this Wilson case is that the usual suspects are calling the duck a weasel.
Newsflash: Weasels don’t waddle, quack or have tail feathers.
BHirsh, are you trying to say that a young police officer, who by all accounts has lived for 28 years and worked at his profession for six years in what, by all accounts, was a moral and exemplary manner, did not suddenly become a depraved, racist, murderous maniac?
Are you also trying to say that an 18 year old confirmed thief who takes whatever he wants by using his unusually large size to intimidate those who would dare stand in his way would probably not suddenly become a submissive child begging for his life?
You must be one of those people that don’t have preconceived biases clouding your judgement. How unusual in today’s society.
Stephen HUNTER’S comments are first rate. It is a shame that so many journalists do not have his knowledge of firearms and even fewer have the integrity to admit it.
Mas – I can’t imagine what my level of understanding of firearms and gun-related issues would be without what I perceive as your relentless pursuit of the truth. I experience that approach in all you do – you get to the bottom of things. I would have probably missed the Stephen Hunter essay had you not given us the link. It is exactly what America should be hearing – at least be given equal time with those who purport to have all the facts – the talking heads who don’t hesitate to espouse their “I-got-it-all-figured-out-for-you” version of the truth. I never get from you what I always get from them – their ‘you are not smart enough’ or even worse, ‘you are not worthy to know’ attitudes. “Thanks” is all I got, but it’s sincere, my friend.