The Many Faces of US Politics...

[J70]

I thought the police officer was punched a couple of times according to the evidence.  One thing I have learned from my visits to the states is that you don't mess about with the cops.

#ThingsMoreHurtThanDarrenWilson

If Michael Brown had been behaving himself he'd still be alive. His death is being used by others to further their agenda and stoke tension. If a black police officer had shot him do you think there would be the same outcry and nationwide protests?

This is merely one of a number of cases in which police have killed unarmed black men and boys. Two more in the last week alone.

As to this case, I just hope if I ever end up before a grand jury that I get a prosecuter as sympathetic to my case as this one was. You'd swear he was his defence lawyer in an actual trial.

[macdanger2]

Hard to believe the policeman can have a "clean conscience" after shooting dead an unarmed teenager, shows how much he values another man's life

[maigheo]

Hard to believe the policeman can have a "clean conscience" after shooting dead an unarmed teenager, shows how much he values another man's life

Did you see the full interview with the police officer?The "clear conscience" comment is strictly in relation to the confrontation and shooting of Mike Brown and nothing to do with how much he values another mans life.He says later on in the interview that he feels a lot of remorse about Browns death but of course that would not suit the narrative of the police officer being the bad guy.And as for the prosecutor being like a defense lawyer for the police officer,what a load of rubbish.He gave the grand jury every piece of evidence in the case and let them decide and this is rarely the case when grand jurys are convened.Every body wants justice but the only justice in this case for a lot of people would be for the officer to convicted of first degree murder regardless of the facts

[whitey]

This is a discussion board...not an attack board

Why does every discussion have to descend into anarchy just because folks disagree with one another.

I vowed after my last go around on healthcare I would steer clear...but what the hell

The "unarmed black teenager" assaulted a police officer and reached for his gun inside the cruiser. His DNA was found on the gun and his blood from the first shot was found inside the car and on the officers uniform.

His struggle with Wilson inside the cruiser was verified by his companion who was with him when he robbed the store.

The trail of blood extended beyond where Browns body lay dead, indicating that he had indeed turned around and was going once coming towards Wilson to confront him in some manner.

To the best of my knowledge these are the "facts" not my opinion. I have read many articles and listened to several hours of radio coverage.

My opinion is that Brown was not an "immediate" threat....could he not have shot him in the leg or torso or retreated behind the vehicle.....brown was if i understand correctly, was 30 yards away when he was shot.

My understanding is that many of the eyewitnesses accounts were very contradictory and that without reliable eyewitnesses, The grand jury had no option but to deliver the verdict they did

[J70]

Hard to believe the policeman can have a "clean conscience" after shooting dead an unarmed teenager, shows how much he values another man's life

Did you see the full interview with the police officer?The "clear conscience" comment is strictly in relation to the confrontation and shooting of Mike Brown and nothing to do with how much he values another mans life.He says later on in the interview that he feels a lot of remorse about Browns death but of course that would not suit the narrative of the police officer being the bad guy.And as for the prosecutor being like a defense lawyer for the police officer,what a load of rubbish.He gave the grand jury every piece of evidence in the case and let them decide and this is rarely the case when grand jurys are convened.Every body wants justice but the only justice in this case for a lot of people would be for the officer to convicted of first degree murder regardless of the facts

You just agreed with me. Grand juries never go down like this one did. There is no way this prosecutor would have given the defendant every opportunity and benefit of the doubt if it had been Brown who killed Wilson. If I'm wrong, then every would be defendant in St Louis must pray that the DA's office chooses this guy for their case. I seriously doubt if many of his other grand juries follow the format of this one. There are plenty of issues here that warranted a trial. That doesn't mean that Wilson is guilty.  It means that there are issues that need to properly examined in a trial setting. And not just Wilson's testimony: His colleagues who investigated the crime scene etc too.

[deiseach]

I think the best way of understanding those defending Darren Wilson is to look at another example of British justice not only being done, but being seen to be be believed. Tom Denning dismissed one of the Birmingham Six's appeal on the basis that, if it were accepted, then it meant all the police involved had fitted them up. The prospect of this was "such an appalling vista that every sensible person in the land would say that it cannot be right that these actions should go any further." For Darren Wilson's defenders, the notion that a cop could murder someone is such an appalling vista that it simply can't be countenanced, especially if there is a racial motive involved.

[maigheo]

To say that anyone defending Darren Wilson believes that any police officer cannot commit a crime is absurd.Did you read any of the evidence presented to the grand jury?You have got to judge each case on its merits and in this case the evidence suggests that it did not warrant being brought to trial.The grand jury sat for 25 days and listened to 70 hours of evidence and could not find a way to bring it to trial.And for me the prosecutor presenting all the evidence to a grand jury is the way all cases should be presented and if the prosecutor in this case had withheld any evidence he would have been accused of bias by either side.There are plenty of cases thro out the USA whereby police officers have committed crimes and are serving time in jail but this is not one of them

[muppet]

This is a discussion board...not an attack board

Why does every discussion have to descend into anarchy just because folks disagree with one another.

I vowed after my last go around on healthcare I would steer clear...but what the hell

The "unarmed black teenager" assaulted a police officer and reached for his gun inside the cruiser. His DNA was found on the gun and his blood from the first shot was found inside the car and on the officers uniform.

His struggle with Wilson inside the cruiser was verified by his companion who was with him when he robbed the store.

The trail of blood extended beyond where Browns body lay dead, indicating that he had indeed turned around and was going once coming towards Wilson to confront him in some manner.

To the best of my knowledge these are the "facts" not my opinion. I have read many articles and listened to several hours of radio coverage.

My opinion is that Brown was not an "immediate" threat....could he not have shot him in the leg or torso or retreated behind the vehicle.....brown was if i understand correctly, was 30 yards away when he was shot.

My understanding is that many of the eyewitnesses accounts were very contradictory and that without reliable eyewitnesses, The grand jury had no option but to deliver the verdict they did

I agree with your opinion but not your conclusion.

The only real facts are that an unarmed man was shot dead. The absence of reliable evidence does not change that. The blood trail doesn't prove he was returning to 'confront' Wilson, merely that he changed direction. 

The burden of proof must be on the person who shot dead the unarmed man. What has happened here, as in other cases, is that the reputation of the victim, his colour, background and dodgy activity, even if completely smalltime and irrelevant to the shooting, have been used to colour (apologies) the thinking of many sane people into believing there might just have been a good reason to instantly remove this person from society. Even if there clearly wasn't.

[stew]

Hard to believe the policeman can have a "clean conscience" after shooting dead an unarmed teenager, shows how much he values another man's life

Did you see the full interview with the police officer?The "clear conscience" comment is strictly in relation to the confrontation and shooting of Mike Brown and nothing to do with how much he values another mans life.He says later on in the interview that he feels a lot of remorse about Browns death but of course that would not suit the narrative of the police officer being the bad guy.And as for the prosecutor being like a defense lawyer for the police officer,what a load of rubbish.He gave the grand jury every piece of evidence in the case and let them decide and this is rarely the case when grand jurys are convened.Every body wants justice but the only justice in this case for a lot of people would be for the officer to convicted of first degree murder regardless of the facts

I thought the prosecutor played a blinder given the hand he was dealt, he gave the evidence and ONLY the evidence and let the grand Jury decide, the man was in a no win situation and he did what he thought best and he made the best decisions he could based on the facts he had to work with!

That aul bastid Sharpton is a twisted, vile piece of shite, a pub hound if ever there was one!!!

[deiseach]

The burden of proof must be on the person who shot dead the unarmed man. What has happened here, as in other cases, is that the reputation of the victim, his colour, background and dodgy activity, even if completely smalltime and irrelevant to the shooting, have been used to colour (apologies) the thinking of many sane people into believing there might just have been a good reason to instantly remove this person from society. Even if there clearly wasn't.

The 80's myth of the super-predator, the child of a crack whore mother and lacking a Bill Cosby-style role model in his life - now that's a good joke! - has coloured (etc) the viewpoint of so much of white America that a policeman can claim that he was like a five-year-old up against Hulk Hogan and that the perp kept on coming at him while he was filling him full of lead . . . and be believed. Depressing.

[maigheo]

Jeez Deiseach ,what the hell are you on about?.Did you read anything about the case or are you just listening to Al Sharpton?  The eye witness"s who gave evidence said that Brown was charging at Wilson like a football player,so Wilson was justified in shooting him if he thought his life was in danger and the final shot was fired when Brown was 5 to 8 feet away.

[muppet]

Jeez Deiseach ,what the hell are you on about?.Did you read anything about the case or are you just listening to Al Sharpton?  The eye witness"s who gave evidence said that Brown was charging at Wilson like a football player,so Wilson was justified in shooting him if he thought his life was in danger and the final shot was fired when Brown was 5 to 8 feet away.

He charged at the officer? While he was in the car? Or are you calling the changing in direction of the blood trail, after he had already been shot, as the charge?

I honestly don't know how the cops in Ireland manage.

[deiseach]

Jeez Deiseach ,what the hell are you on about?.Did you read anything about the case or are you just listening to Al Sharpton?  The eye witness"s who gave evidence said that Brown was charging at Wilson like a football player,so Wilson was justified in shooting him if he thought his life was in danger and the final shot was fired when Brown was 5 to 8 feet away.

There were also witnesses who said that Michael Brown did not charge at the police car, witnesses who said he did not reach into the police car, witnesses who said that he was running away when being fired upon, witnesses who said Darren Wilson fired at him when he was lying on the ground, and witnesses who said he was kneeling when fired upon.

[AZOffaly]

I don't know lads, but the Grand Jury heard way more evidence than they normally would, and they decided there was no case to answer. I think that's about all we know for sure.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Police are rarely indicted by grand juries, according to this:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ferguson-michael-brown-indictment-darren-wilson/

"A recent Houston Chronicle investigation found that "police have been nearly immune from criminal charges in shootings" in Houston and other large cities in recent years. In Harris County, Texas, for example, grand juries haven't indicted a Houston police officer since 2004; in Dallas, grand juries reviewed 81 shootings between 2008 and 2012 and returned just one indictment. Separate research by Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip Stinson has found that officers are rarely charged in on-duty killings, although it didn't look at grand jury indictments specifically."