The Ferguson Fraud

The Ferguson Fraud
By RICH LOWRY November 25, 2014

The bitter irony of the Michael Brown case is that if he had actually put his hands up and said don't shoot, he would almost certainly be alive today. His family would have been spared an unspeakable loss, and Ferguson, Missouri wouldn't have experienced multiple bouts of rioting, including the torching of at least a dozen businesses the night it was announced that Officer Darren Wilson wouldn't be charged with a crime.
Instead, the credible evidence (i.e., the testimony that doesn't contradict itself or the physical evidence) suggests that Michael Brown had no interest in surrendering. After committing an act of petty robbery at a local business, he attacked Officer Wilson when he stopped him on the street. Brown punched Wilson when the officer was still in his patrol car and attempted to take his gun from him.

The first shots were fired within the car in the struggle over the gun. Then, Michael Brown ran. Even if he hadn't put his hands up, but merely kept running away, he would also almost certainly be alive today. Again, according to the credible evidence, he turned back and rushed Wilson. The officer shot several times, but Brown kept on coming until Wilson killed him.

This is a terrible tragedy. It isn't a metaphor for police brutality or race repression or anything else, and never was. Aided and abetted by a compliant national media, the Ferguson protestors spun a dishonest or misinformed version of what happened—Michael Brown murdered in cold blood while trying to give up—into a chant ("hands up, don't shoot") and then a mini-movement.

When the facts didn't back their narrative, they dismissed the facts and retreated into paranoid suspicion of the legal system. It apparently required more intellectual effort than almost any liberal could muster even to say, "You know, I believe policing in America is deeply unjust, but in this case the evidence is murky and not enough to indict, let alone convict anyone of a crime."

They preferred to charge that the grand jury process was rigged, because St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch didn't seek an indictment of Wilson and allowed the grand jury to hear all the evidence and make its own decision. This, Chris Hayes of MSNBC deemed so removed from normal procedure that it’s unrecognizable.
It's unusual, yes, but not unheard of for prosecutors to present a case to a grand jury without a recommendation to indict. Regardless, who could really object to a grand jury hearing everything in such a sensitive case? If any of the evidence were excluded that, surely, would have been the basis of other howls of an intolerably stacked deck.

It’s a further travesty, according to the Left, that Officer Wilson was allowed to testify to the grand jury. Never mind that it is standard operating procedure. As former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy points out, guilty parties usually don't testify because they have to do it without their lawyer present and anything they say can be used against them.

It is also alleged that the prosecutor McCulloch is biased because his father was a cop who was killed by a criminal. Follow this argument though to its logical conclusion and McCulloch would be unable to handle almost all cases, because of his engrained bias against criminality.

Finally, there is the argument that Wilson should have been indicted so there could be a trial "to determine the facts." Realistically, if a jury of Wilson's peers didn't believe there was enough evidence to establish probable cause to indict him, there was no way a jury of his peers was going to convict him of a crime, which requires the more stringent standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.

Besides, we don't try people for crimes they almost certainly didn't commit just to satisfy a mob that will throw things at the police and burn down local businesses if it doesn't get its way. If the grand jury had given into the pressure from the streets and indicted as an act of appeasement, the mayhem most likely would have only been delayed until the inevitable acquittal in a trial.

The agitators of Ferguson have proven themselves proficient at destroying other people's property, no matter what the rationale. This summer, they rioted when the police response was "militarized" and rioted when the police response was un-militarized. Local businesses like the beauty-supply shops Beauty Town (hit repeatedly) and Beauty World (burned on Monday night) have been targeted for the offense of existing, not to mention employing people and serving customers.

Liberal commentators come back again and again to the fact that Michael Brown was unarmed and that, in the struggle between the two, Officer Wilson only sustained bruises to his face, or what Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo calls an "irritated cheek." The subtext is that if only Wilson had allowed Brown to beat him up and perhaps take his gun, things wouldn't have had to escalate.

There is good reason for a police officer to be in mortal fear in the situation Officer Wilson faced, though. In upstate New York last March, a police officer responded to a disturbance call at an office, when suddenly a disturbed man pummeled the officer as he was attempting to exit his vehicle and then grabbed his gun and shot him dead. The case didn't become a national metaphor for anything.
Ok
Ferguson, on the other hand, has never lacked for media coverage, although the narrative of a police execution always seemed dubious and now has been exposed as essentially a fraud. "Hands up, don't shoot" is a good slogan. If only it was what Michael Brown had done last August.


Using logic and facts, Lowry debunks some of the Left's arguments concerning Michael Brown. This is the way the justice system works. It may not be perfect, but it is probably the best in the world.
Did you see Michael Brown's stepfather yelling, "Burn the b**** down" over and over to the crowd to incite them to violence? Is this bringing honor to his stepson's memory?

 

His mom has a neck tattoo....can't say I've met very many well behaved kids whose moms have neck tats

 

Thats a very conservative opinion.....

tsk tsk tsk.... Youll prolly be kicked outta the obama fan club....

 

It's just the over generalization that many liberals hate, just broke up with a super liberal girl for a year and was able to learn a lot.

I agree with you though, I know two specific people who are covered in tattoos and have wonderful family's and very successful careers.

However, when righties generalize it is bases on correct statistics most of the time.

Yes, the majority of those covered in tattoos are not the shining paragon of moral authority. No generalizing and saying ALL of them are, is wrong

 

Much like real estate its all about location location location.

 

This is OT but it's still hilarious.

 

Real Estate is all about location. Mello, we are offering you a one time pass to drop the Liberal bull(*)(*)(*)(*). We know it's become just too insane to defend anymore. You can start light, support Romney and work your way towards the TEA Party and Ted Cruz. Don't worry, after the first week, you will feel a hell of a lot better and smarter.

 

Lol maybe if I don't get this job as a union organizer I'm applying for.

 

Uh, mind expanding on that?

Location?

Are you trying to say that location creates people with tattoos? I hope not, that would be on really hypocritical of you as you are generalizing.

 

Have you considered a career in community organizing?

I hear there are openings available...

 

No I'm saying tattoo location is what makes a diff...neck, face and hands are a rejection of civilized society

 

MB had a choice, go to the sidewalk and get out of the middle of the street OR keep blocking traffic. He chose the middle of the street (Bad Choice #1). Cop tells him to get out of the street. MB has the choice get out of the middle of the street OR hit the cop and try to take his gun. He chose to hit the cop and try to take his gun and or shoot him with it (Bad Choice #2). Gun goes off twice. MB realizes Bad Choices #1 & #2 will now in all likelihood land him in jail today for assault on a police officer at best and attempted murder of a police officer at worst. MB had another choice, give up and deal with the legal ramifications of his actions so far OR attempt to escape. He chose to attempt to escape (Bad Choice #3). MB runs. Police officer runs after him. MB is again faced with another choice as there is no way he's going to out run an in shape police officer, give up and get on the ground as the officer is screaming at him OR turn around and run at the officer pointing his gun at him. He chose to turn around and run at the officer pointing his gun at him (Really Bad Choice #4). MB had 4 choices to make that day. Any one of which, choosing correctly would have spared his own life.

 

The claim is that a black person is shot by the police or "government protected vigilantes" every 28 hours.

(I got that from this, it's a Shut Down Atlanta thing).



So, let's do a little quickie math on this. One every 28 hours, that's about 1 a day. (24 hours in a day, so that's the right ballpark).

So they're complaining about 300 deaths per year, approximately that. Let's use that as a ballpark figure.

(I'm not sure exactly what's meant by "government protected vigilantes", but we'll leave that one alone for the moment).

So now, my question is, how many blacks are killed in domestic violence situations every year? How about the bad end of a robbery, how often does that happen? I need some context to understand what that 300 number really means, otherwise I look at it and say "one a day".

For some context, limited as it may be, look at this link here: http://www.businessweek.com/article...tatistics-on-young-black-men-and-gun-violence

You can see the graph there, the number of violent deaths by homicide is 83 per one hundred thousand in the last reported year. And this is only in the 20-24 age group.

Here's the official DOJ report: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bvvc.pdf

According to Eric Holder, we're looking at about ten thousand homicides per year.

And these guys are burning down cities for 300?

What's up with that?

 

oh, so you have some secret video tape of the incident?

 

MB's other was seeing her name in the headlines and herself in a new or not too old Cadillac before MB was dragged out of the street. Little Trayvon's mother has traveled the world so why not MB's mother? She made him what he was so she should benefit from his stupidity.

 

Check the testimony at the Grand jury.

 

The blood evidence 100% supports that Michael Brown turned around and ran at the officer. Multiple eye witnesses, some black (because I know that matters to you) also support that event. Did you not even follow the evidence?

 

And speaking of honor, how long do you think it will be before the new Michael brown badge hits the police chest? How comforting it will be to know there will be a camera there in that badge for the remainder of our time as a nation, not because the people are not trusted but because the police are not trusted. The Michael Brown badge will forever be a slur worn right on the heart of every cop in America. Oh how the mighty have fallen

 

While I personally agree with you I believe that is no longer true as I see them constantly. That being said I must admit I would never hire someone with a neck tattoo, it just looks bad, especially to people with lots of money

 

The left wingers will simple deny the facts of the matter and continue claiming the false narrative of this incident. The honest facts are meaningless to them. They don't support their prejudged view.

 

Six bullets from the barrel of a police officers gun is the ultimate weapon in the anti-bullying campaign.

Michael Brown was a 6'-4" 292 lbs bully.

How many lives did Officer Wilson save by putting down this MAN before he could turn his anger against his black neighbors?

By the way, this huge pile of crap named Michael Brown was high as a kite on marijuana.

 

do you ?

 

there are real issues in Ferguson, this case was not the best to use as a launching point for change, but no one can change that now, but we have come this far, lets address the real issues in Ferguson..... the people reached a boiling point, this one case was just the one that set it off

now that the evidence is out, the protestors need to apologize to the officer, and continue forth trying to make change, but not letting that go will get them no where

trying to pretend this whole issue in Ferguson is about this one case will get the other side no where

.

 

Oh come on, Mikey was a good kid, butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Didn't have a bad bone in his 292 pound body. Nah, that was some other person in the store strong arming that small business owner while wearing yellow socks and a red baseball hat. That cop pulled Mikey into his cruiser twice and hit his face and head against Mikey's fist.
Surely it was all a frame-up. At least that's the Gruber explanation for the incident. That's what the race baiting and racists want us to believe.

 

didn't you a few weeks ago post a picture of violent marauding black thugs and label it "this is what diversity brings us"?