Ferguson Riot Watch...

[Lord Jim]

Ferguson Braces For Grand Jury Decision

It's not certain that a grand jury decision in a Ferguson, Mo., case will be announced this weekend, but officials, protesters and city leaders have been preparing.

The grand jury, which will decide whether a white police officer who shot an unarmed black 18-year-old will face charges, met behind closed doors Friday. The city is bracing for what comes next.

It been more than three months since Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says during much of that time, police commanders have been meeting with protest leaders to talk about how to handle the demonstrations that are sure to follow the grand jury decision. Slay says they've come to terms on some rules of conduct:

"If some protesters are nonviolent, police will not be aggressive," Slay says, "but some protesters turn violent or threatening, police will respond to keep everyone safe."

Slay says protesters may also be allowed to occupy public spaces longer than previously tolerated. He says the goal is to keep people and property safe while demonstrators exercise their rights of free speech.

On a stretch of West Florissant Avenue, most of the businesses that were looted or damaged in the aftermath of Brown's death last August still have boarded-up windows.

"We're just trying to wait and see what happens," says Buffi Blanchard, who works at a barbershop that her aunt owns. Blanchard says they had the boards taken off the shop's windows, but with the grand jury decision looming, people are afraid.

"We have clients still to this day, right now, who have come recently in the last week or two who have said, 'We haven't been here since Aug. 9th, since this all happened,' " Blanchard says. "And now something else may be getting ready to happen, and they may stop coming again."

The businesses here are taking merchandise out of the store at night, and reinforcing their doors. Blanchard already knows what she'll do when the grand jury decision is announced.

"Pray," she says. "That's all I can do."

There are a number of groups that have worked to provide safe spaces. Rev. Susan Sneed, an organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United, says some churches will offer sanctuary primarily for demonstrators, while others will be a respite for people who live in protest areas.

"If the community wants to come in at whatever time, just for a place to pray, to feel safe. A lot of those churches will offer simple hospitality, some food to eat. If people feel like they need to spend the night, they can," she says.

There have been nightly demonstrations near the Ferguson Police Department. The familiar chant, "Hands up, don't shoot," has become a symbol of the Mike Brown protest. There have also been arrests this week of demonstrators who blocked traffic. Protestors say they will gather at the site of the police station when the grand jury decision comes. LaDonna Goforth says she won't be among them.

"I don't know if I want to be around everything when this goes off like that," she says. "You think there's going to be trouble — I really feel like it. I really feel like it. There's a lot of people angry. You know what I'm saying? People are angry."

But there are many urging protesters to be calm — from residents here to Attorney General Eric Holder and even President Obama. Meanwhile, the FBI has sent nearly 100 additional agents to Ferguson to help law enforcement prepare for any problems that could arise.

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/22/365910458 ... jury-meets

[Lord Jim]

Grand jury reaches decision in case of Ferguson officer

A grand jury has reached a decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager sparked days of turbulent protests, sources close to the process said.

News conferences are being prepared by the county prosecutor’s office and the Missouri governor, sources said. Those news conferences will likely come later Monday.

The sources gave no indication of whether Wilson, 28, will face state charges in the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, which triggered a frank conversation about race and police interaction with African Americans.

The grand jury’s decision is the latest turn in a case marked in the national consciousness by the stunning images of protesters looting stores and police wearing riot gear and deploying tear gas in the days after Brown’s death. Details of the grand jury’s deliberations have leaked out in recent weeks, angering the Brown family and protesters who saw it as a signal that no charges would be filed.[That's because the evidence that has been leaking out doesn't support their pre-determined narrative of what happened. If the evidence that has been coming out had supported that narrative, I doubt they would have been angry about it.]

Although a parallel federal civil rights investigation of the shooting is continuing, federal investigators have all but concluded that they do not have a case against Wilson, law enforcement officials have said. Federal investigators are also conducting a broader probe of the Ferguson Police Department.

If Wilson is not charged, government officials are bracing for protests in the St. Louis area and nationwide. They have discussed emergency plans in the event of a violent reaction, while protest and community leaders have mapped out their response in hopes of avoiding the unrest that exploded after Brown was killed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html

[Joe Guy]

My sources say that the announcement will be at 6:PM PST.

[MajGenl.Meade]

They should get wesw to announce it. By the time the final word is out everyone will have given up and gone home. Or died of old age.

[wesw]

I held it all in until recently meade, you got lucky and get to see the resulting geyser of pent up opinions and emotions and ideas

[Long Run]

Or, they could have it announced at cricket tempo, same result. If it were Leonard Cohen announcing at cricket tempo, everyone will be paying a visit to the pre-funded funeral salesman.

[Lord Jim]

They should get wesw to announce it. By the time the final word is out everyone will have given up and gone home. Or died of old age.

ETA:

Or, they could have it announced at cricket tempo, same result. If it were Leonard Cohen announcing at cricket tempo, everyone will be paying a visit to the pre-funded funeral salesman.

Now that's even funnier...

Note to Wes:

See how I managed to do that without creating a second post?

[Lord Jim]

CNN is reporting that Wilson has not been asked to turn himself in, which would seem to indicate that he won't be indicted, even on a lesser manslaughter charge...

[Jarlaxle]

He needs to skip the country now.

[Lord Jim]

I have to say I don't understand the logic of the timing on this announcement...

If there's not going to be an indictment, (or even if there was going to be an indictment on a lesser charge, which won't be satisfactory to the protestors) why would you make the announcement now, after dark, with an amped up group of protestors waiting for it? Why not make it tomorrow morning, during daylight?

[Joe Guy]

I have to say I don't understand the logic of the timing on this announcement...

Makes on sense to me either. It's setting the stage for the riots they're trying to prevent.

Stay out of Oakland tonight...

[wesw]

so , do I need to load my shotgun? is anyone rioting?

it would normally be loaded, but I took the dog out to see how she handled the sound of the gun last week and I have to unload it and have the chamber open to walk thru town. (I m making the the green emoticon at rube)

[Lord Jim]

Stay out of Oakland tonight...

That will be easy...

Not a surprising decision, but I have to say that those were possibly the worst questions asked I have ever seen in a major press conference...

(For all their faults, there's a reason we have a "national press corp"....)

That was like a Saturday Night Live routine...

Those "reporters" were clearly Not Ready For Time Prime....

[wesw]

oh I ll have some things to say about the president s speech too...

edit: stupid cops can t back off?

[Lord Jim]

The timing of this is really moronic...

Several squad cars have been destroyed, store windows are being broken, and now the police are reacting with teargas...

I don't know if this could have been completely avoided, (probably not) but surely if this decision had been announced at 9 AM tomorrow morning, what is (predictably) unfolding now, could have been a lot less intense...

[wesw]

wow. it looked like the chick from cnn had two special forces guys guarding her. they had beards and their eyes missed nothing.

I hope the fox crew is ok. the crowd was getting hostile and his link went out

[Lord Jim]

At least one store liquor store/ market has now been thoroughly looted...

"I'm completely outraged at what I see as a gross miscarriage of justice, so I'll express my outrage by stealing a couple of cases of beer from the store of a small business owner who had absolutely nothing to do with what I'm supposed to be outraged about..."

Yeah, it's just like The Boston Tea Party...

[RayThom]

The natives are restless tonight.

[rubato]

This is what happens when you ignore "fairness" and differential compensation. This is what happens when the structure of government is allowed to be corrupted and become systematically oppressive on one disadvantaged group for decades.

This isn't a surprise.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

This is what happens when 12 citizens examine ALL of the evidence - hear ALL of the witnesses - and decide (based on the evidence and the witnesses) that there is not sufficient cause to justify a trial.

It's also what happens when pundits, thugs and emotionally distraught people who have not examined all the evidence or heard all the witnesses think they know better than 12 of their peers who have.

It's what happens when people mistake "justice" for "legal standards".

I applaud the grand jury for the courage to make the decision and not simply return an indictment and leave it to the court case to really stir up trouble. We already have enough Pontius Pilates.

That having been said, there is something very wrong in the USA in actions and relations between (white) cops and (black) citizens. Evidently the consistently decreasing oppression against minorities since 1900 and the lessening corruption of government is still not sufficiently advanced.