Missouri Cops Shoot Unarmed Teen, Spark Angry Response from Community, Caught on Video

via YouTube

Police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown while he was going to his grandmother's house, according to his mother, producing an immediate angry backlash from the community. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

[A witness] said she saw the teen, hands in the air, attempt to flee [when police tried to put him in a squad car]. Several shots hit Brown as he ran, Crenshaw said. She complied with a request that she give photos of the scene to authorities…

The shooting sparked a furious backlash.

Further shots were heard as police arrived immediately after the shooting but no one was injured as angry residents screamed obscenities mixed with threats to "kill the police." More than 60 area police officers responded to the scene.

Louis Head, Brown's stepfather, held a sign that said: "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!"

Tension flared off and on through the evening. A calm settled over the area after mourners gathered at a prayer circle — watched over by a St. Louis County police officer sitting atop a SWAT vehicle

Brown was scheduled to start college in the fall. Police had no comment on what happened, saying only that they had referred the shooting to county police and that they were "hoping for calm" as the investigation was conducted, advice it seems is rarely heeded by cops when one of their own is shot.

Watch video of cops trying to break up a spontaneous protest after the shooting, via the Post-Dispatch, here.

h/t Mark Sletten

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

She complied with a request that she give photos of the scene to authorities?

As there was no one around to take the pictures of her shooting should she fail to comply?

[Muzzle of Bees]

"Sure you can have the pictures. Just go to this very public website I uploaded them to."

[Ted S.]

That only works if she's streaming the video live to the site, of course.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Seriously, someone needs to make an app for recording police that does exactly that.

[GeneS]

https://www.aclu-nj.org/yourrights/the-app-place/
ACLU of New Jersey has one. I'm not sure if it uploads live, or just on completion.

[Brian D]

My phone automatically uploads pictures to a dropbox that spreads to other devices that have access to it.

[jamesrk]

its not like they would ever shut down cell towers or employ jammers......

[Fist of Etiquette]

...they were "hoping for calm" as the investigation was conducted, advice it seems is rarely heeded by cops when one of their own is shot.

Ka. Boom.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

I'm one little hop over the river to this, and I know what it's like around here.

I've had a cop in my own town (in Illinois) explain to me that "This is Illinois, we can do whatever we want."

This angry and violent reaction is just the beginning. It'll get worse. There are so many people that hate the police now, the hopelessness and helplessness will begin spilling over into anger and rage.

Perhaps the police will get the message and back off. The officer on the swat truck makes me think otherwise.

[Ted S.]

Would that the police learned 20 years ago from the Rodney King beating.

[sarcasmic]

Weren't the cops who did that acquitted?

[Ted S.]

Yes, which is part of the reason I think the police aren't going to learn from this one, which is about the 857420758275984309854085780472798432085743257th example

(Actually, the number of esampes is higher, but Reason wouldn't let me post the real figure, claiming it forms a word that's too long.)

[John]

They were later convicted of federal charges. What is sad about the Rodney King case is how mundane it would be today. Reason puts up five cases a week that are ten times worse than the cops giving King, who really was a drunken belligerent who lead them on a high speed chase, a beating.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Truly. King lived through his ordeal, if nothing else.

[John]

Yes. And on the scale of injustices, getting the shit beat out of you after you lead the cops on a 120 mph+ high speed chase really isn't that high. They shouldn't have done what they did. But in today's terms, King barely registers as a victim of police misconduct.

[buybuydandavis]

It would be interesting to compare the conviction rates of peasants with those of cops.

90% vs. 10% sounds about right to me.

[DrAwkward]

Oh I think they learned pretty well. Do what you want, no consequences.

[crazyfingers]

I really hope whoever took the cell phone video kept a copy before handing it over to the police, because it will most likely be modified.

I like how they pretend handing over the "investigation" to another police agency is supposed to assure the public of its impartiality. As if all cops don't protect their own.

[John]

Me too.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Cop 1: I'm from Farmington, and I need you to investigate this shooting.

Cop 2: It was justified.

Cop 1: You haven't even looked at the evidence.

Cop 2: What evidence.

Cop 1: Evidence? When did I say that?

Cop 2: You didn't. Why are you in my office?

Cop 1: Some kid's dead.

Cop 2: Oh yeah, I think I read about that in the papers. Have a nice day!

[Pathogen]

Cop 2: Oh yeah, I think I read about that in the papers. Was probably gang related. Have a nice day One less shitbag on the streets!

Cop 1: Crime doesn't pay..

Cop 1 & Cop 2: BWHAHAHAHAHA... *gasp*..HAHAHAHAAAAA!

Cop 1: Care for a bearclaw?

Cop2: Awesome, thanks!

[Toki Wartooth]

"[A witness] said she saw the teen, hands in the air, attempt to flee [when police tried to put him in a squad car]. Several shots hit Brown as he ran,"

Hey man I get it. I pulled a hammy once when I was sprinting. It's alot easier to just shoot someone so you don't have to chase them.

[Ted S.]

I presume he was areested either for Contempt of Cop or Walking While Black?

[Jerry on the sea]

alt-text: ?Not shot in the legs.?

[John]

The same media and celebrity complex who made a national crusade out of Zimmerman shooting Trayvon Martin when he was on top of him beating the shit out of Zimmerman won't say a God Damned word about this.

There are not words strong enough to express my complete disdain for the media in this country. Journalists are the dregs of humanity.

[Cytotoxic]

Ah this story is being repeated in other media but you are right the magnitude of coverage will not be in the same solar system. RESPECT AUTHORITAH beats 'Racism!'-that's how you know the Liberals of yesteryear have gone full prog.

[Adam330]

It's being reported in the media because a riot ensued. They are covering the riot; the shooting is just the backstory.

[Muzzle of Bees]

"Several shots hit brown..."

Those damned bullets always autonomously choosing to hit innocent people.

[crazyfingers]

He was shot 8 times according to reports.

[Ted S.]

How many bullets did the police fire?

[Sudden]

If they landed 8, I'm gonna guess they fired off more rounds than the Allied forces of WWII.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

The gun flew from my fingers and proceeded to chase the suspect.

Upon realizing it would not be able to keep up, by dint of being a gun and not a person, the gun then proceeded to empty itself towards the suspect.

I retrieved the gun after the incident, and placed it back in the holding cell on my tactical belt.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

The gun was retrieved after the incident and resumed its place in its holster.

[John]

It is just a matter of time before something really ugly happens. People will not take being shot and terrorized forever. One of these days there is going to be a shooting like this and a mob is going to gather and there are going to be some police hanging from lampposts. Yes, the cops have guns, but so will the mob.

[sarcasmic]

And then the mask will really come off. Once people start shooting cops, the cops will fear for their life from anyone. And I mean anyone. Old women who refuse to obey will be killed. Same with children. Oh, wait. They already kill children who fail to obey.

[John]

No, what will happen is the cops will stop showing up to work. The mask will come off but what will be under it is the cowards they actually are. The last thing cops want to do is deal with people who fight back. They only shoot unarmed people. When they are confronted with actual danger, they cower behind their vehicles and wait for the person to run out of ammo or kill themselves so they can go in and clean up the bodies.

[goneGalt]

John is likely correct. They are bullies, not soldiers. They also have families. They will be hiding.

Ultimately this means the military being called in. But they seem to be held to and operate at a higher level. (Rover should do OK.)

[Robert]

What would they do, nuke the city from orbit?

[goneGalt]

Well, it's the only way to be sure.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Bullshit. the National Guard will be called in. And the lovely lovely government has been training select cadres of Guardsmen to murder and oppress civilian populations.

They will quite honestly be mowing us down in the streets.

[goneGalt]

Perhaps. Of course, the police will need to stop shooting National Guard members first.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Huh. They really REALLY don't give a shit, do they.

Fucking fuck.

[Cytotoxic]

Eh lets hold the melodramatic speculation.

[sarcasmic]

Bullshit. the National Guard will be called in.

Yeah. Calling on the militia is a time honored American tradition started by George Washington when the people objected to a new tax on whiskey.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"And the lovely lovely government has been training select cadres of Guardsmen to murder and oppress civilian populations."

Um, citation needed.

[Invisible Finger]

Ultimately this means the military being called in.

welcome to Chicago.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Society's respect/fear for the law and the consequences of breaking it is the only thing that keeps police from ending up as a smear on the sidewalk. There just aren't nearly enough of them. If they persist in their efforts to convince the population at large that they are not worthy of respect and that what the people fear will come to pass or can easily come to pass even if they do not violate the law then the police are not going to like the results.

[John]

And they are not on duty all of the time. They don't live in guarded compounds. They and more importantly their families have to live in society. If society ever gets tired enough of this, the cops won't last five minutes. As much as some of them deserve it, that would be an unmitigated tragedy for society since it would represent a complete breakdown of the rule of law.

This is why I hate cops who do this so much. They are not just assaulting and murdering innocent people. They are assaulting and helping to kill civil society as we know it.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

It's just another result of the gradual re-imposition of the aristocratic system that has been the norm for human societies historically. America is just reverting to the mean.

[John]

Those societies generally fell into chaos after the invention of small arms deprived the aristocrats of the means to control them.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I can envision scenarios that go either way. If push come to shove though it helps to bear in mind that we have huge cities that are dependent for basic necessities like food and power that could be used as whips to keep them in line. How long could NYC or LA survive if the government decided to restrict access to these things? Traditionally society was more diffuse in it's food production. Modern society has some very exploitable weaknesses. Not the least of which is also the softness of many of it's people.

[Robert]

How would they restrict food, when the mobs will loot the trucks & stores? How would they restrict electricity, when enough people know how wires work? They would have to cut the entire city off.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

How long do you think that the food stores of a city would last? It requires a constant influx of supplies to keep people in them fed. The stores do not restock via replicator.

They would have to cut the entire city off.

That's the scenario. That is to restrict movement of supplies into one below sustainability levels. A siege.

[hotsy totsy]

Next thing you know, they'll be demanding "droit de signeur". (Watched Braveheart yesterday.)

[RussianPrimeMinister]

There has already been a complete breakdown of the rule of law.

Every single law is meted out arbitrarily. The wealthy and powerful and connected do not have to fear the law. The police themselves are very nearly immune to the law.

What rule of law are you refering to? You're actually talking about the breakdown of society. But that isn't going to happen. What will happen is three days of severe violence, which will end with every single police officer dead, most civic buildings torn down brick by fucking brick, and a number of innocent businesses robbed because some people riot for loot rather than principle.

Then everyone will calm down and go back to their lives. People don't stay savage in America. At least, not for long.

[Whahappan?]

It will have to get much, much worse before anything remotely like this comes to pass. Remember, normal people aren't anywhere near as bloodthirsty and callously indifferent towards their fellow man as the cops. While a cop will shoot an innocent man, woman or child without as much thought as you or I give to swatting a fly, most people will be hesitant to respond in kind.

[Invisible Finger]

Note how Hilary Clinton and her ilk want to arm Iraqi citizens at the same time she wants to disarm American citizens.

[sarcasmic]

Yeah, you're probably right. When faced with any actual threat they'll run away like the soldiers we spent a fortune to train in Iraq.

[goneGalt]

I am reminded of this clip from "V is for Vendetta".

Skip ahead to 3:07

[Mark22]

The good people of St. Louis voted for these guys, and the politicians that supply them with arms, large pensions, and effective immunity. If they don't like it, they should vote for someone else next time.

[gaoxiaen]

Are you saying that the penalty for fuckups like this is that someone loses their job? They usually receive no punishment except a paid vacation.

[buybuydandavis]

Really ugly things happen all the time. This was one example.

We can hope it's only a matter of time before the usual ugly thing is followed by some swift justice.

"People will not take being shot and terrorized forever."

We can hope, but the available evidence says otherwise.

[gaoxiaen]

Not soon enough.

[sarcasmic]

This is what happens when you fail to obey.

[John]

This is from March but a friend just sent it to me. Dave Berry, who along with Iowa Hawk is one of our few remaining national treasures, reviews 50 Shades of Grey. It is a good antidote to this nut punch.
Read and enjoy.

http://time.com/3030375/dave-b.....s-of-grey/

[Lorenzo]

Verbatim from my niece's Facebook:
Everybody already knows how I feel about trashy shows, books, etc... And how I think as a Christian these things should be far away from your life. So with that being said please don't advertise on Facebook or anywhere else if you have read or are going to watch 50 shades of grey. I will have to judge that and it might end our Facebook friendship...

[John]

Boy she sounds like a barrel of laughs.

[gaoxiaen]

Hah! That's my favorite gift for every woman I know.

[Virginian]

Everybody already knows how I feel about trashy shows, books, etc... And how I think as a Christian these things should be far away from your life. So with that being said please don't advertise on Facebook or anywhere else if you have read or are going to watch 50 shades of grey. I will have to judge that and it might end our Facebook friendship...

The cynic in me says she has a worn and sticky copy of it tucked under her pillow.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

"Under every christian facade is a dirty fucking whore" - Gandalf

[Ted S.]

I'd recommend a good Christian movie like Elmer Gantry, or maybe the Joan Crawford version of Rain.

[Mark22]

When people complain how racist and Republican southern states are, just remind them that St. Louis has a majority African American electorate and has been governed by Democrats for decades, and they are responsible for whatever this police force does or doesn't do.

[NiceDay]

Just today I had this encounter with my son.

Him: "Pretend I'm a cop."
Me: "Ok." He walks past me. "Excuse me? Officer?"
Him: Points his stick at me and shoots.
Me: Honestly amazed. "You really do know how to play a cop!"

[SusanM]

Here's a view of this mess from the other side. As usual the comments show an utter lack of irony

http://thinkprogress.org/justi.....ael-brown/

[JG43]

According to local news, rioting and looting has started

[Hawk Spitui]

...and the fun starts...

[gaoxiaen]

Wow! a relevant comment from AnonGalaxy! Good job but I'm still ignoring your link.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Anon-bot is more topical than 50% of our trolls.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Anon-Bot is the new Tony.

Tony can go fuck start a land mine.