Hello, Eh Mac friends and neighbors! I have recently returned from supervising the building of my husband's and my log home in the Missouri Ozarks and am sickened by what has occurred in Ferguson, Missouri. Since we have opted to eliminate all but local Television here in Oklahoma, we rely on internet sources for news and commentary. I came here tonight to see what you all thought about the "crisis" in St. Louis.
And discovered it hasn't even been discussed!
So... let me introduce what I find disturbing and see if anyone would like to explain to me why it isn't a big deal at all.
I personally am horrified by what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri. I follow a forum that provided a link to an eyewitness account of the killing of the teen that led to this. The link is no longer active and the news is NOT covering this at all. I'm posting it here because I think it is important.
...This MSNBC interview with an eyewitness to the Michael Brown shooting (which, unless you have twitter, you probably haven’t heard about because every major network has simply refused to cover the story in any detail whatsoever) is absolutely chilling:
The police say the officer shot Brown after the teen shoved the officer and tried to wrestle the officer’s gun from him. But a number of witnesses, including Johnson, refute those claims. And in the wake of the shooting, the Ferguson Police Department has asked the St. Louis County police to step in and take over the investigation.
http://ift.tt/1BoR8qm...) 100% 100% no-repeat;">***
About 20 minutes before the shooting, Johnson said he saw Brown walking down the street and decided to catch up with him. The two walked and talked. That’s when Johnson says they saw the police car rolling up to them.
The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
“I could see the muscles in his forearm,” Johnson said. “Mike was trying to get away from being choked.”
“They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went from his throat to now clenched on his shirt,” Johnson explained of the scene between Brown and the officer. “It’s like tug of war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’”
At that moment, Johnson says he fixed his gaze on the officer to see if he was pulling a stun gun or a real gun. That’s when he saw the muzzle of the officer’s gun.
“I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” he said. “He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more time.”
A second later Johnson said he heard the first shot go off.
“I seen the fire come out of the barrell,” he said. “I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close.”
Johnson says he was within arm’s reach of both Brown and the officer. He looked over at Brown and saw blood pooling through his shirt on the right side of the body.
“The whole time [the officer] was holding my friend until the gun went off,” Johnson noted.
Brown and Johnson took off running together. There were three cars lined up along the side of the street. Johnson says he ducked behind the first car, whose two passengers were screaming. Crouching down a bit, he watched Brown run past.
“Keep running, bro!,” he said Brown yelled. Then Brown yelled it a second time. Those would be the last words Johnson’s friend, “Big Mike,” would ever say to him.
Brown made it past the third car. Then, “blam!” the officer took his second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point, Johnson says Brown stopped, turned with his hands up and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”
By that point, Johnson says the officer and Brown were face-to-face. The officer then fired several more shots. Johnson described watching Brown go from standing with his hands up to crumbling to the ground and curling into a fetal position... ) end of article.
I realize the race element is part of this, but I think all of us paying attention know that the militaristic nature of our police forces (no longer servants, are they?) are frightening.
My friend in Ireland shares this: We had armed police with batons, we had British army in tanks at peaceful protests....they shot and killed unarmed people in Derry and other places and denied it for 40 years....said there were gunmen in the crowd. This is all too familiar to me, Margar.Really...they can do and say what they want to....who is going to argue? http://ift.tt/1o16Qha(1972)
Does anyone else believe this is a major turning point in my country?
And discovered it hasn't even been discussed!
So... let me introduce what I find disturbing and see if anyone would like to explain to me why it isn't a big deal at all.
I personally am horrified by what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri. I follow a forum that provided a link to an eyewitness account of the killing of the teen that led to this. The link is no longer active and the news is NOT covering this at all. I'm posting it here because I think it is important.
...This MSNBC interview with an eyewitness to the Michael Brown shooting (which, unless you have twitter, you probably haven’t heard about because every major network has simply refused to cover the story in any detail whatsoever) is absolutely chilling:
The police say the officer shot Brown after the teen shoved the officer and tried to wrestle the officer’s gun from him. But a number of witnesses, including Johnson, refute those claims. And in the wake of the shooting, the Ferguson Police Department has asked the St. Louis County police to step in and take over the investigation.
http://ift.tt/1BoR8qm...) 100% 100% no-repeat;">***
About 20 minutes before the shooting, Johnson said he saw Brown walking down the street and decided to catch up with him. The two walked and talked. That’s when Johnson says they saw the police car rolling up to them.
The officer demanded that the two “get the f—k on the sidewalk,” Johnson says. “His exact words were get the f—k on the sidewalk.”
After telling the officer that they were almost at their destination, Johnson’s house, the two continued walking. But as they did, Johnson says the officer slammed his brakes and threw his truck in reverse, nearly hitting them.
Now, in line with the officer’s driver’s side door, they could see the officer’s face. They heard him say something to the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer attempted to thrust his door open but the door slammed into Brown and bounced closed. Johnson says the officer, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the neck.
“I could see the muscles in his forearm,” Johnson said. “Mike was trying to get away from being choked.”
“They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went from his throat to now clenched on his shirt,” Johnson explained of the scene between Brown and the officer. “It’s like tug of war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’”
At that moment, Johnson says he fixed his gaze on the officer to see if he was pulling a stun gun or a real gun. That’s when he saw the muzzle of the officer’s gun.
“I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my friend,” he said. “He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more time.”
A second later Johnson said he heard the first shot go off.
“I seen the fire come out of the barrell,” he said. “I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close.”
Johnson says he was within arm’s reach of both Brown and the officer. He looked over at Brown and saw blood pooling through his shirt on the right side of the body.
“The whole time [the officer] was holding my friend until the gun went off,” Johnson noted.
Brown and Johnson took off running together. There were three cars lined up along the side of the street. Johnson says he ducked behind the first car, whose two passengers were screaming. Crouching down a bit, he watched Brown run past.
“Keep running, bro!,” he said Brown yelled. Then Brown yelled it a second time. Those would be the last words Johnson’s friend, “Big Mike,” would ever say to him.
Brown made it past the third car. Then, “blam!” the officer took his second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point, Johnson says Brown stopped, turned with his hands up and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”
By that point, Johnson says the officer and Brown were face-to-face. The officer then fired several more shots. Johnson described watching Brown go from standing with his hands up to crumbling to the ground and curling into a fetal position... ) end of article.
I realize the race element is part of this, but I think all of us paying attention know that the militaristic nature of our police forces (no longer servants, are they?) are frightening.
My friend in Ireland shares this: We had armed police with batons, we had British army in tanks at peaceful protests....they shot and killed unarmed people in Derry and other places and denied it for 40 years....said there were gunmen in the crowd. This is all too familiar to me, Margar.Really...they can do and say what they want to....who is going to argue? http://ift.tt/1o16Qha(1972)
Does anyone else believe this is a major turning point in my country?
via ehMac.ca http://ift.tt/1BoR8qo
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