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WeCopwatch live reports from Ferguson, Missouri - August 15, 2014
WeCopwatch has arrived in Ferguson, Missouri, where on August 9 a Ferguson police officer shot down and murdered 18-year-old local resident Michael Brown, in cold blood, in broad daylight, in the street in front of numerous witnesses. After days of protests and violent racist attacks by police against demonstrators, today, the focus has shifted to the police cover-up of the murder. After previously refusing to release the incident report on the shooting and the name of the killer cop, Ferguson police have finally released his name, Darren Williams, but instead of releasing the their report on the shooting, they ramped up their smear campaign against Mike Brown and released a different police report that claims Mike Brown shoplifted from a local convenience store shortly before he was killed, as if that’s justification for shooting down an unarmed young man.
[photo: “RIP Mike Mike - We Won't Ever Forget - LD say Fuck Police” painted on QuikTrip that was burned out by protesters on August 10]
It’s in the police playbook to smear their unarmed victims, to make it seem as if they somehow deserved to die, and to distract attention from the murder itself. Police across America do this every time they kill a person of color. Police in this case also have claimed that Mike Brown somehow reached into Darren Williams’ patrol car and tried to grab the cop’s gun, thereby forcing the cop to shoot him. Multiple witnesses, however, contradict this fictional police story.
At least three non-police witnesses have come forward to tell virtually the same version of events, that officer Darren Williams pulled up to and harassed Mike Brown as he walked in the street, reaching out of the patrol car window to grab Mike Brown and then shooting Mike Brown once from within the car. As Mike Brown and a friend ran away, Darren Williams jumped out of his car and proceeded to shoot Mike Brown in the back. When Mike Brown turned around to face the officer with his hands in the air, Darren Williams continued to shoot repeatedly until Mike Brown lay dying in the street. No medical services were rendered to Mike Brown until at least thirty minutes after the shooting, by which time it was too late to save him, and police let his body lay in the street for hours.
In a town that is 67% African American, constantly the subject of racist police stops and citations by a Ferguson police department made of up 53 officers, of whom only three are African American, the community was rightfully outraged by the murder.
After days of protests and racist and violent attacks against protesters and journalists by a heavily-militarized St. Louis County police force, Missouri governor Jay Nixon stepped in and relieved Ferguson police and St. Louis County police of their command of the area, replacing them with the Missouri highway patrol. Yesterday was the first day protesters were able to gather without being shot at by rubber bullets, pepper balls, flash-bang concussion grenades, and tear gas, the first day that automatic weapons were not pointed in their direction from atop armored police vehicles, the first day the rights of the people to demonstrate against an injustice was not illegally suppressed by force.
Today, the focus has shifted to the police cover-up of the murder. After previously refusing to release the incident report on the shooting and the name of the killer cop, Ferguson police have finally released his name, Darren Williams, but instead of releasing the their report on the shooting, they ramped up their smear campaign against Mike Brown and released a different police report that claims Mike Brown shoplifted from a local convenience store shortly before he was killed, as if that’s justification for shooting down an unarmed young man.
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These are WeCopwatch's first photos from today on West Florissant Avenue, which has been the focal point for the rebellion since Mike Brown was murdered.
It’s in the police playbook to smear their unarmed victims, to make it seem as if they somehow deserved to die, and to distract attention from the murder itself. Police across America do this every time they kill a person of color. Police in this case also have claimed that Mike Brown somehow reached into Darren Williams’ patrol car and tried to grab the cop’s gun, thereby forcing the cop to shoot him. Multiple witnesses, however, contradict this fictional police story.
At least three non-police witnesses have come forward to tell virtually the same version of events, that officer Darren Williams pulled up to and harassed Mike Brown as he walked in the street, reaching out of the patrol car window to grab Mike Brown and then shooting Mike Brown once from within the car. As Mike Brown and a friend ran away, Darren Williams jumped out of his car and proceeded to shoot Mike Brown in the back. When Mike Brown turned around to face the officer with his hands in the air, Darren Williams continued to shoot repeatedly until Mike Brown lay dying in the street. No medical services were rendered to Mike Brown until at least thirty minutes after the shooting, by which time it was too late to save him, and police let his body lay in the street for hours.
In a town that is 67% African American, constantly the subject of racist police stops and citations by a Ferguson police department made of up 53 officers, of whom only three are African American, the community was rightfully outraged by the murder.
After days of protests and racist and violent attacks against protesters and journalists by a heavily-militarized St. Louis County police force, Missouri governor Jay Nixon stepped in and relieved Ferguson police and St. Louis County police of their command of the area, replacing them with the Missouri highway patrol. Yesterday was the first day protesters were able to gather without being shot at by rubber bullets, pepper balls, flash-bang concussion grenades, and tear gas, the first day that automatic weapons were not pointed in their direction from atop armored police vehicles, the first day the rights of the people to demonstrate against an injustice was not illegally suppressed by force.
Today, the focus has shifted to the police cover-up of the murder. After previously refusing to release the incident report on the shooting and the name of the killer cop, Ferguson police have finally released his name, Darren Williams, but instead of releasing the their report on the shooting, they ramped up their smear campaign against Mike Brown and released a different police report that claims Mike Brown shoplifted from a local convenience store shortly before he was killed, as if that’s justification for shooting down an unarmed young man.
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These are WeCopwatch's first photos from today on West Florissant Avenue, which has been the focal point for the rebellion since Mike Brown was murdered.
For more information:
http://wecopwatch.org
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Report on 2013 Ferguson police stops, searches & arrests reveals racist profiling. Note that whites had a higher contraband rate when stopped but were stopped only a fraction of time. 86 percent of traffic stops and 92 percent of all arrests in the city were of black residents.
For more information:
http://ago.mo.gov/VehicleStops/2013/report...
a guy who said he was a ''marine'' thought I said something to him, he was imagining things. said he don't take no stuff, he's a marine. a white male , im not white. he automatically became aggressive , thought you said something tohim. these cops reacting same way. imagining things then threatening you. things getting weird.watch out.
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