On Thu, 27 Nov 2014 06:26:10 -0800, Klaus Schadenfreude
Post by Klaus SchadenfreudeOn Thu, 27 Nov 2014 06:13:00 -0800, GOP_Decline_and_Fall
Post by GOP_Decline_and_FallOn Thu, 27 Nov 2014 04:59:23 -0800, Klaus Schadenfreude
Post by Klaus SchadenfreudeOn Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:07:43 -0800, GOP_Decline_and_Fall
Post by GOP_Decline_and_FallUnorthodox police procedures emerge in grand jury documents
And the Grand Jury said, "No crime here."
The Grand Jury wasn't tasked with investigating the malfeasance of the
Ferguson PD.
The FBI and the DOJ are busy with that as we speak.
You and Dudu said the same thing about Zimmerman as I recall.
How's that working out for ya?
Ongoing of course.
Doubtless Mr Holder will see Zimmerman continues to be pursued as
vigorously as Wilson is going to be by him and his successor, who has
an equal thirst for justice and civil rights.
Not having been cleared in a genuine trial might not have necessarily
done Wilson many favors.
And so, Darren Wilson begins a life under threat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/26/and-so-darren-wilson-begins-a-life-in-danger/
By Terrence McCoy November 26
In an hour-long interview with ABC News correspondent George
Stephanopoulos, officer Darren Wilson described what happened the day
he shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
For all the speculation and rumor, all the protest and media interest,
it wasnt until Tuesday that the public came to know the voice of
Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. It was raspy, flat and without
inflection, reflecting the cadence of his Midwestern home. Even when
ABC interviewer George Stephanopoulos asked him of his dream going
forward, his response was curt.
We just want to have a normal life, he said from an undisclosed
location. Thats it.
But normality for Wilson, who learned Monday night he wouldnt be
charged in the killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown, may be elusive.
Even without an indictment, he remains a man in danger from lingering
anger. His attorneys have reported numerous death threats and, as of
this week, his face has been etched into the public mind. He is
unlikely to ever reclaim the life he once led.
Darren Wilson is going to have a tough time because even if the
presumption was he did nothing wrong, that doesnt matter, CNN legal
analyst Mark OMara said. He is now the focus point for all the anger
and animosity that exists in the black community.
That anger as well as the perception of it has tied Wilson in a
knot that will be difficult to escape. Ferguson Police Chief Thomas
Jackson has already announced that Wilson, who is negotiating his
resignation, will no longer have a position on the police force. He
told The Washington Posts Chico Harlan it was a personnel matter.
Others suspect a clear motive: Wilsons safety. Hes not going back
to work in Ferguson hed get killed in a heartbeat, an anonymous
source familiar with Wilsons professional situation told the
Guardian. Im not sure he will ever be in police work again, and Im
not even sure that he should hang around in St Louis. He may just
basically have to move on with his life somewhere else.
But where? Wherever he goes, he wont be able to shake several
realities, at least for the time being. One is a federal
investigation, pursued by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., over
whether Wilson violated Browns civil rights on that hot August day.
Another is an internal Ferguson Police Department inquiry probing
whether he was justified in shooting to death the unarmed Brown. And
finally, there is the threat of a hefty civil lawsuit that many expect
the Brown family to file against him.
What happens or doesnt happen with the grand jury is irrelevant with
the civil suit, Steve Ryals, a Missouri civil rights lawyer who
handles police misconduct cases, told the Huffington Post. I would be
flabbergasted if they didnt file a suit.
If so, it may be difficult to serve Wilson. Few know where he is.
On Monday, the New York Times published an article reporting Wilsons
recent marriage that said remarkably little, but told a lot. The
article, which identified the block where Wilson owns a home,
originally showed a picture of the house. That image was later
deleted. The piece contained information that should not have been
made public, an editors note said amid criticism the article opened
Wilson up to attack.
We are paying $5k cash for location of Ofc. Darren Wilson, one St.
Louis group called RbG Black Rebels tweeted this month. Real $, no
joke, no crime we just wanna get his photo and ask him a few
questions. Its only one of many possible threats against Wilson, his
attorneys have said.
Wilson now travels under a cloak of secrecy with little outside
protection. Other agencies like the FBI have the resources to provide
endangered agents some modicum of security, transferring him or her to
a different location and bequeathing a new name. But for Wilson,
employed by a small department, that option isnt available. Its far
more difficult for local law enforcement, particularly for a small
department such as Ferguson, former FBI assistant director Ron Hosko
told the Guardian. Because of the expense and because being a police
officer in city A, youve been sworn in to serve there, [and it] is
not a guarantee that you can be a police officer in city B.
The officer now faces an uncertain future, with uncertain chances of
ever being a cop again. But there is nonetheless one person who may
know the stresses Darren Wilson is undergoing.
Last February, George Zimmerman sat for his first interviews following
his acquittal on murder charges in the death of black teenager Trayvon
Martin. In his interview with CNN, he looked haggard and morose. I
have a lot of people saying that, you know, they guarantee that
theyre going to kill me and Ill never be free, he said. I realize
that they dont know me. They know who I was portrayed to be.
It may be the same for Wilson, wrote George Washington University
professor Orin Kerr in the Volokh Conspiracy. While some may believe
the case has reached a resolution, there are clearly many who do not.
According to that narrative, he said, there will be thousands who
believe we had a sham grand jury process destined to fail, gutting a
strong case that should have gone to trial in open court. The fact
that the grand jury wouldnt even indict shows that the legal system
doesnt value the life of Brown, and implicitly, all young black men.
So from that perspective, the system failed. There was a sham
investigation followed by a sham grand jury decision. Now we cant
move on at all.
Terrence McCoy is a foreign affairs writer at the Washington Post. He
served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Cambodia and studied international
politics at Columbia University.