What More Will It Take to Arrest Darren Wilson?

[kpete]

What More Will It Take to Arrest Darren Wilson?
Mychal Denzel Smith on September 11, 2014 - 5:41 PM ET

“Hands up, don’t shoot!” has been the cry of the thousands who took to the streets seeking justice for Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old who was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri, by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9. According to multiple witnesses, Brown had his hands in the air—a gesture generally understood to signal surrender—when Wilson shot him to death. The police have a different story: they say Brown was the aggressor, having reached for Wilson’s gun while the officer was still in his vehicle, and later charging toward Wilson. This version of the story, frankly, sounds ridiculous. And now there’s more reason that ever to doubt the police’s explanation. CNN has reported on two witnesses that had not previously given statements to journalists:

Two men, shocked at what they saw, describe an unarmed teenager with his hands up in the air as he’s gunned down by a police officer. They were contractors doing construction work in Ferguson, Missouri, on the day Michael Brown was killed.And the men, who asked not to be identified after CNN contacted them, said they were about 50 feet away from Officer Darren Wilson when he opened fire. An exclusive cell phone video captures their reactions during the moments just after the shooting.

“He had his f**n hands up,” one of the men says in the video. The man told CNN he heard one gunshot, then another shot about 30 seconds later. “The cop didn’t say get on the ground. He just kept shooting,” the man said. That same witness described the gruesome scene, saying he saw Brown’s “brains come out of his head,” again stating, “his hands were up.”

At this point, I need someone to answer this question for me like I’m stupid: What else is needed to arrest Darren Wilson? I’m not asking what a prosecutor would need to for a murder conviction, or even what a grand jury would need to bring formal charges. What else is needed for police to say, “Darren Wilson, you shot and killed someone, you are under arrest”? What more?


http://www.thenation.com/blog/181589/new-ferguson-witnesses-say-michael-brown-had-his-hands-what-more-will-it-take-arrest-dar#
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cnn-ferguson-video-bystanders-hands-air

[NYC_SKP]

1. My prediction is that the fix was in day one, there will be no indictment or charges.

And especially with the prospect of federal charges, they are hunkered down, the wagons are circled.

Which, to me, means the feds need to step it up, and soon.

[jaysunb]

3. +1 n/t

[kelliekat44]

25. That last video and those two white, non-Ferguson residents ought to make it easy for the Justice

Department to prosecute a both civil and criminal cases.

[rpannier]

26. Always the possibility they send it to the grand jury

The GJ doesn't indict and they turn it over to the feds and say, "We tried, but the grand jury said no."

[Kablooie]

36. Yep. He's absolutely safe from prosecution.

I mean he was just a cop doing his job and ridding society of unwanted elements, African American Citizens.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[BrotherIvan]

4. They're waiting for everyone to forget about it

I'll buy DU a beer if he goes to prison. But I think my money will stay in my pocket.

[sheshe2]

5. I ask the same question kpete. nt

[BillZBubb]

6. The only way Wilson ever gets convicted of a major offense is in Federal court.

He'll never be convicted of murder or even manslaughter in Missouri.

[jillan]

7. Agreed - what more do they want? That is horrible about Mike's brains coming out of his head.

I don't know if I want to scream or cry.

If they are waiting for us to forget - I've got news for them - we will NEVER forget.

[tblue37]

9. The refusal to arrest Wilson, combined with the *obvious* attempts

to cover-up the execution and to smear Brown's character, is precisely why people will not forget and why the fury won't die down. In fact, the longer they drag this out, the more intense the anger will grow.

And if that murderer walks free or gets away with just a slap on the wrist, things will probably get really, really ugly.

ON EDIT:
The Ferguson PD's main problem is that they are so used to getting away with their harassment and abuse of black citizens and their sloppy, implausible cover-up stories on any rare occasion when someone says something, that they simply assumed that their ludicrous stories would get a pass this time, too. Sure, racists locally and nationally support them, but most people see right through their lies and are horrified at them and at the fact that this cop so obviously murdered an unarmed teenager and then was allowed to hide while his buddies and bosses concocted a cover-up.

[leftynyc]

31. How are those two construction

workers, who back up every witness who has come forward, warrant you calling them a lynch mob?

[smokey nj]

32. This is just stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[jwirr]

15. Correct. Many of us who were part of the Civil Rights movement remember it very clearly and to

me at least this is an extension of that time. We will not forget and it is not just Michael we remember - police seem to have been given a right to kill in many states. They are playing police man, judge, jury and hangman. That is not their job. If Missouri does not have the moral fortitude to bring justice to this case then I want the feds to charge him with the highest crime they can. We do not pay our police to act like this. Or at least I don't.

[tblue37]

8. Heck, they still don't even have an actual incident report yet, because they need to

leave their options open so they can modify their story to accommodate any new witness or forensic information that comes out.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. It blows my mind that action hasn't been taken. nt

[adieu]

11. The whole police department,

from the lying police chief on down to the meter maid, have to go. The stink cannot remain. Everyone has to be relieved of duty. Those culpable, such as Wilson, some of his associates, and the chief, must face a trial. The rest must never get a job related to law enforcement in any way, shape or form, and can never be employed in a public service sector. Go ahead and flip burgers for $15/hr, but don't burden us with your ways.

[Raine1967]

12. I think Missouri and Ferguson Have basically said

to the Feds: 'you handle this' -- it disgusting imo, but they gave up any responsibility the day of the shooting. The local and state jurisdictions do not care.

They don't. They have not from the start. They wanted this to go to the feds. That way they can say they are not responsible for the outcome.

[logosoco]

35. I am actually kind of glad it is in the feds hands.

I think it is too easy for states or individual municipalities to sweep things like this under the rug. They have been doing that for years. Ferguson has been treating most of its citizens horribly, and they are not going to change that themselves.
I can't trust them to do the right thing. If it takes the feds involvement to make great change, this is the time.
And as a resident of this state, where we have a legislature who just voted to undermine the rights of women, I don't trust the state either.

[Agschmid]

13. Darren who?

America it seems has moved on, it sure happens fast.

[Cali_Democrat]

14. Paint him black

I'm sure they'd arrest him.

[Jamaal510]

22. +1

[Gman]

16. Patience

The Feds had 40 FBI agents in the neighborhood. Since then several more eyewitness accounts have come out. I think they feel safe going public now that they've talked to the FBI. The Feds will soon drop the hammer on him.

And it won't just be Wilson that goes down.

[gordianot]

23. Correct Wilson pleas guilty to Manslaughter and the corrupt system is blamed.

Wilson turns States Evidence maybe gets witness protection on Ferguson Police hanky panky along with a manslaughter charge. Parents get wrongful death law suit with day in court including violation of Michael Brown's civil rights. Releasing the video of Michael Brown in the store was a horrible mistake after the Council and Police were advised by DOJ not to do that. People died in the ensuing protest families of those killed and injured in protests could have lawsuits against the City of Ferguson with recommendations by the Office of Civil Rights. Something or someone has frozen Wilson's defense fund last week while Feds were in town. Federal auditors and investigators are now scouring Ferguson Police files. The hammer may have already come down. The Ferguson City Council is probably already doomed next election.

[Hoyt]

17. Too many right wingers are fine with what happened.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. Too many right wingers are pissed the cops didn't open fire on the protesters.

[blkmusclmachine]

18. ,

,

[Voice for Peace]

19. I read the grand jury is being presented all of the evidence, every bit of it, and all the witness

testimony, videos, whatever has been given to the Feds and
to the local prosecutors, is being presented as is to the
Grand Jury, and it will be they who decide on the charges.
I imagine that's what they are waiting for. Best to wait until
they have a solid case.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. They didn't want to arrest Zimmerman either....

Then they did a show trial where the prosecution lost on purpose because a guilty verdict would have been a green light for the family sue for millions.

Expect to see the same thing here.

There seems to be a cult that worships the courts and really believes it's impossible for them to be corrupt.

Those folks have never been in the system.

[Kalidurga]

24. The autopsy should have been enough

the pattern matches with the stories that Mike Brown had his hands up. I was waiting for his defenders who seem to be experts in everything guns to explain that pattern. Not a peep out of any of them not a single pundit either can explain that pattern. It is not consistant with charging or someone being shot in the back.

[woo me with science]

27. I agree that they are hoping it will blow over, and I think they want more than anything else

NOT to set a precedent that would open floodgates to challenging police abuse and, especially, the militarization of police.

[ReRe]

28. I don't know, kpete...

... I imagine they will arrest him when the Grand Jury announces that there will be a trial. What is this? The fifth week of the meeting of the Grand Jury? They had enough evidence to indict right off the bat, so I don't think it's going to take much longer.

[Sienna86]

33. The indictment

By the grand jury.

[Enthusiast]

34. Kicked and recommended!

Thanks, kpete.