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Crackdown in Ferguson Cause More Violence
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
August 19, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Calling in the National
Guard to Ferguson, Missouri, local authorities hoped to send a loud message to
protesters seeking justice in the wake of 18-year-old Michael Brown fatal
shooting Aug. 9 by 28-year-old four-year-police veteran Darren Wilson. Civil rights activists, led by Rev.
Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, were troubled by a private autopsy conducted
at the request of the Brown family by renowned forensic pathologists Dr. Michael
Baden. Baden’s autopsy showed that
Brown was shot at least six times by Wilson Aug. 9 at 12:01, in what looks to
civil rights activists as more than police brutality. Nightly protests have raged on for
nine days, encouraged by civil rights activists before Ferguson Police to
release a complete record on the incident.
Ferguson authorities have released piecemeal facts about the police
shooting, essentially blaming Brown for Wilson’s shooting.
Baden’s autopsy raises many possible scenarios, including Wilson was
trigger happy, panicked or killed Brown execution-style while surrendering. Pointing to a bullet wound on the
top of Brown’s head raises the possibility of a cold blooded killing. Calling Wilson’s shooting
self-defense harks back to the Feb. 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin case where a
17-year-old Black teenager was shot by 29-year-old neighborhood watch guy George
Zimmerman. Zimmerman invoked
Florida’s controversial “Stand-Your-Ground” law to justify killing
Martin—something the Ferguson Police have used in Brown’s shooting. What made Brown’s shooting
suspicious are the multiple gunshot wounds and reluctance of the Police to
release a full transcript of the Aug. 9 incident. Failure to get the facts out quickly
have raised concerns about the police sanitizing the official incident report.
Ferguson police officials blame the unrest on outside agitators hurling
plastic water bottles and Molotov cocktails into riot-clad officers ready to
move quickly to crack down on demonstrators.
Whether admitted to or not, the Ferguson unrest stems from the Black
community’s refusal to cow to a racist police department, busy obscuring the
real facts. With eyewitnesses saw
Brown gunned down in cold blood, the Ferguson police have done little to dispel
that narrative. Keeping the facts
from the public adds to suspicions that Ferguson Police violated Brown’s civil
rights.. With President Barack
Obama directing the Justice Department to order an independent autopsy, it looks
like the DOJ sees grounds for a civil rights inquiry. Given the preliminary autopsy
results, a St. Louis grand jury could be looking into whether Wilson should be
charged with murder and other civil rights violations
Using armored personnel carriers and other equipment designed for
domestic terrorism, President Barack Obama cautioned Ferguson Police and
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon not to use excessive force to compromise First Amendment
right of protesters. “There’s no
excuse for excessive force by police or any action that denies people to protest
peacefully,” said Obama, putting Missouri officials on notice that he’s looking
carefully at their tactics.
Responding to any minor provocation, like hurlings Costco-brand water bottles,
doesn’t give Nixon or Ferguson police the right to call out the National Guard. Apart from a few bad apples,
protests have been nonviolent.
Calling out the National Guard looks like overkill for Nixon, concerned that
Ferguson protesters could get out of hand.
Obama has been accused of sitting squarely on the fence, not criticizing
Ferguson’s law enforcement.
Calling in the National Guard looks excessive when you consider the small
two-block radius of Ferguson street protests.
Firing teargas and smoke-bombs to break up crowds looks like Ferguson law
enforcement aims to stop lawful First Amendment rights to assembly by lawful
protesters. Before all the facts
are known, the Black community has a right to protest what they regard as civil
rights violations. National civil rights activists like Sharpton and Jackson have good sense when ordinary police
shooting crosses the line into a civil rights violation. “Let’s seek to heal rather that to
wound each other,” said Obama hoping to contain escalating violence but saying
little about how racial minorities are often discriminated against by the
criminal justice system.
Minorities—especially Blacks—are disproportionately represented in the U.S.
prison population.
Attorney Gen. Eric Holder should launch a Justice Department
investigation into discriminatory practices at the Ferguson Police Department. Failing to get the facts out about
Brown’s Aug. 9 shooting has left the Black community skeptical that the Brown
family can get justice Ferguson.
Missouri Gov. Nixon called in the National Guard not to contain escalating
violence but to give local law enforcement cover against accusations of racial
bias and discrimination. Using
armored personnel carriers and other riot gear used to combat domestic terrorism
throws gasoline on an otherwise volatile situation. Gunning down an 18-year-old in broad
daylight raises disturbing questions about how and when the Ferguson Police
should use lethal force. Shooting
an unarmed Black teenager at least six times without any real probable cause
other that self-defense raises real questions about civil rights violations.
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