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Prosecutor McCullouch rambled on and on for several minutes at the beginning of his announcement blaming “social media” for making the case difficult to resolve.
BREAKING: Missouri prosecutor says no probable cause exists to file charges in #Ferguson shooting. http://t.co/LupvQ1K4d8— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 25, 2014
The grand jury deliberating whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown has reached a decision, CNN and The Washington Post report.
Stay calm, everyone…
Law enforcement officials tell CNN a decision by grand jury in the Ferguson case is expected to be announced today. http://t.co/XDYVyY0UNW— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) November 24, 2014
MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki and Amanda Sakuma discuss the recent New York Times article which reports that Police Officer Darren Wilson’s version of events in the deadly shooting of teenager Michael Brown says he was pinned in his car by Brown and feared for his life.
This version of the shooting doesn’t jive with other witnesses at the scene.
A grand jury in Missouri is currently deliberating whether or not to indict Officer Wilson on any charges. An announcement from the grand jury is expected sometime between mid-November and January.
The police officer who pushed CNN anchor Don Lemon during a live newscast from Ferguson, Missouri, has taken early retirement (with full benefits!) after being racist, homophobic video rants came to light.
From the Advocate:
Dan Page, a St. Louis County police officer, had been suspended but opted to retire to avoid further investigation, reports MSNBC. His last day was Monday.
Page pushed Lemon and others during the out journalist’s coverage of protests in Ferguson over the fatal shooting of unarmed black man Michael Brown. Afterward, Lemon notified Page’s supervisors about a speech the officer gave in 2012 to an organization called Oath Keepers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
In video of the hour-long rant, Page calls gay people in the military “sickening” and “pitiful,” rails against hate-crimes laws, and says four of the U.S. Supreme Court’s justices are “homosexual sodomites.” He calls President Obama “that illegal alien who claims to be our president,” says Muslims “will kill you,” and advises women to relax about “domestic violence stuff,” as couples who don’t get along should “just shoot each other and get it over with.”
He also warns Missouri’s U.S. senators, Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt, that he is “real good with a rifle,” and says that while he is a Christian, he is nonetheless proud of being a killer. “I’ve killed a lot,” says Page, a former Green Beret and 35-year veteran of the police department. “And if I need to, I’ll kill a whole bunch more…. God did not raise me to be a coward.”
In related news, the Ferguson police have begun wearing body cameras to help capture an accurate record of police-involved incidents.
It is possible a recording of the actual shots fired at Michael Brown may have just surfaced.
According to CNN, an unidentified man, who has since been interviewed by the FBI, may have inadvertently recorded the incident in which Michael Brown was shot by Officer Darren Wilson earlier this month.
The most interesting aspect of the short recording is what appears to be two separate, distinct sets gunfire from Officer Darren Wilson’s weapon.
From CNN:
In the recording, a quick series of shots can be heard, followed by a pause and then another quick succession of shots.
Forensic audio expert Paul Ginsberg analyzed the recording and said he detected at least 10 gunshots — a cluster of six, followed by four.
The man who recorded the shooting was talking to someone on video chat when the sounds of gunfire erupted in the background. The Daily Mail added:
Lopa Blumenthal, the attorney for the unidentified man who recorded the alleged gunfire nearby said that she believed the audio shows, if it is authentic, that Officer Wilson had a clear ‘point of contemplation’ while pulling the trigger and aiming at Brown.”
Watch a portion of the report on CNN below:
During the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, the network ran two public service announcements referencing the recent turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri.
From Mediaite:
One of the ads is based on a quote from author James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” The words show on-screen while the now-famous “Hands up, don’t shoot” chants are heard in the background.
The other spot — with a concept title of “Look. Listen. Change.” — shows young people getting hit with broken glass while a narrator rattles off racial stereotypes.
CNN reports that the police officer who shoved news anchor Don Lemon on the air earlier this week has been suspended after wild remarks regarding violence, the President, the Supreme Court and Muslims came to light.
A Missouri police officer involved in maintaining security in troubled Ferguson was put on administrative leave Friday after a video surfaced showing him railing about the Supreme Court, Muslims, and his past — and perhaps, he said, his future — as “a killer.” The officer, Dan Page of the St. Louis County Police Department, became something of a familiar face to many earlier this month when video showed him pushing back CNN’s Don Lemon and others in a group in Ferguson. At the time, CNN was reporting on the large-scale and at times violent protests calling for the arrest of a white Ferguson police officer who shot and killed African-American teenager Michael Brown.
In his rambling remarks on the video, he talks about what he describes as a draft replacement for the U.S. Constitution, the “four sodomites on the Supreme Court,” and a visit to Kenya “to our undocumented President’s home.” He refers to Barack Obama as “that illegal alien who claims to be our President.” Page frequently references violence, including nine combat tours in the Army, during which he did “my fair share of killing.” Speaking about Muslims, he says pointedly: “They will kill you.” On domestic disputes, he opines: “You don’t like each other that much, just kill each other and get it over with. Problem solved. Get it done.” On urban violence, he predicts that “when the inner cities start to ignite, people are going to start killing people they don’t like.”
And lastly, Page says, “I personally believe the Lord Jesus Christ is my savior, but I’m also a killer. I’ve killed a lot and, if I need to, I will kill a whole bunch more. If you don’t want to get killed, don’t show up in front of me.” Belmar, the head of the St. Louis County police department, said all the talk about killing was especially disturbing to him. “As a police chief, that’s something I’m not going to be able to endure,” Belmar said.
In addition to Page, a second Missouri officer, Matthew Pappert, was suspended for inflammatory comments made on social media which included “These protestors should have been put down like a rabid dog the first night.”
I believe in these officers having the right to free speech, but it’s seriously disconcerting to hear that peace officers with guns are talking about killing and putting protestors “down.”
Watch the CNN report below:
At the request of Michael Brown’s family, a former New York City chief medical examiner has performed an autopsy on the body of the slain teenager.
From The Daily Beast:
In a press conference Monday, Baden said two of the gunshot wounds hit Brown’s head in a position indicating he may have been bent over. (The other four wounds were his arm.)
All of the shots but the ones to Brown’s head were survivable, Baden said, adding that the wounds could be consistent with eyewitness testimony that Brown was trying to run away from Officer Wilson.
Brown family attorney Benjamin Crump said “The family would rather the invesigation be done independently of local authority becuase they feel there will not be justice for their child.”
In light of the tensions and violence currently seen in Ferguson, Missouri, watch John Oliver’s epic rant on the racial inequality in treatment by police as well as the increasing militarization of America’s local police forces