Last night on Twitter I called on Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to remove Saint Louis County police chief Jon Belmar from command “before breakfast.” He took a little longer than that, but it appears that he heeded my advice. I, of course, take full credit for this. The president also announced that the Justice Department will be leading the investigation into how and why Michael Brown was killed.
They should also investigate the police departments, both local and county.
And Nouri al-Maliki is withrawing in favor of al-Abadi, BooMan.
TwoFer
I told him to do that, yesterday, too.
People obey my author-i-tay.
And you don’t even have an armored personnel carrier!
I’m unfollowing you on Twitter right now! This new-found power of yours is scaring the shit out of me.
He’s still PM for 30 days while they try to form a government, and after if they fail. And his minions will be working for it to fail. I don’t believe Maliki is totally listening to you yet but here’s hoping he has to.
Bring on the Federal Shithammer
Change of tone. The authorities are delivering porta-potties to the parking lot of the Quik Stop that is the one of the centers of the protests.
We’ll see if the authorities tone things down tonight. Blues instead of camos would be a change. Some more black officers on duty would be a change.
Radley Balko, Washington Post: How should police respond to protests?
Good sense that should have been learned 50 years ago instead of the ‘law ‘n order’ crap.
It also applies in international relations unless you’ve already gone over the cliff.
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/14/6002917/ferguson-police-expert-interview-fritz/in/5757650
This is some damning analysis.
Yeah, but did Nixon, or the White House, call on us to fight the power?
Totally inadequate response.
Also still no public option.
Apparently the St. Louis County police will be replaced by the State Highway Patrol. I don’t know that the Highway Patrol is a priori better, except that they are under the command of the governor, and thus presumably won’t use such stupid tactics.
One thing that hasn’t been commented upon much: the current chief executive of St. Louis county, Charlie Dooley, is African American. Just guessing here, but I’d imagine that there might be some political opponents who wouldn’t mind stirring up some racial animosity in a county that is 70% white.
The head of the Missouri Highway Patrol is an African-American who lives in the Ferguson area. Way better optics, and if it is paired with a big de-escalation in appearance and tactics, then it could improve things on the streets quickly.
That said, you can see in this long press conference that is going on right now that both Dooley and the Governor are scared shitless about the competing political imperatives here. Everyone, even the MHP chief, are answering tough questions about last night’s military policing with “We’re looking forward, not backwards.” Mealy-mouthed ridiculousness.
They’ve got to be thinking about the long line of lawsuits facing them. Every word they utter will be used against them in various courts of law.
The ACLU already filed one.
ACLU of Missouri files suit against St. Louis County for records related to Michael Brown’s death
The guy heading up the incident unit tonight is a black guy named Ron Johnson, who grew up in Ferguson. How is it that they didn’t send him out by himself to talk to the people in Ferguson from the beginning?
You know the answer to that. It was the wannabe Bull Connor police chief that first called the shots and then the gotta-use-the-SWAT-team county police who were called in as reinforcements when the Ferguson PD blew it.
There seem to be high expectations on this Ron Johnson guy for tonight. Let’s see if his institution is smart enough to handle crowd control like that of a major high school football game rivalry.
Or will he be called an Uncle Tom?
Not the way he’s behaving tonight. He was in the front line of the protest march. Made an eloquent statement that included the line: “I have two black sons.” The sense I got is he knows how to deal with this community; he knows this community, and they know him.
Good!
See my previous post.
○ FBI director visits St. Louis to discuss terrorism | By Andy Banker | Posted 10:07 pm, August 6, 2014 |
I don’t think that the press conference was all that great. From what I’m hearing there were some outright non – truths that the guv told. Like saying protesters firing on law enforcement. It claiming that there was “violence from both sides”
Oh and as for the replacement guy being AA, just another way to scapegoat. If the new AA guy can’t get “his people” under control it will just mean he’s one of the good ones and unlike “those bad”.
Well…
I can’t say I’ve ever seen that before!
What a smart move. White heads are exploding throughout the Saint Louis County PD
,
Good for Mr Johnson.
The attitude I’m talking about though is from the RWNJs.
If anyone steps the other way while Mr Johnson is in charge, you know how that will go down.
@wizdom4you 56m
….during #Katrina….it was Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré
…for #Ferguson…it is Captain Ronald Johnson….
Well, we now know the identity of the
murderershooter…Full article from St Louis Dispatch.
St Louis County Prosecutor, McCulloch blasts Nixon for replacing St. Louis County Police control: http://bit.ly/1rcDYdT
Yeh, put a lot of people in danger of being exposed as militaristic wannabes, peace-keeping incompetents, and racist shitheads who don’t know anything about the people they’re policing except how to beat them down.
Now we all need to turn our attentions to our own community police departments, city officials and councilmen and women. We need to know that every neighborhood in our communities is important and protected by honest, ethical policing.
We need to learn what equipment law enforcement has and what the policies for its use would be. We need to demand war tools (tanks, tear gas, sonic machines) are removed from the police arsenals. We need strict guidelines for the use of tazers and guns.
We need to demand law enforcement “serves” the all citizens and is responsible for individual police actions.
We need to know that police training is not “shoot first, shoot to kill”.
We need to know the blue line of loyalty is not a white sheet to cover up crimes against the citizenry.
We must demand the continuous use of video cameras in patrol cars and, when possible, on the persons of law enforcement officers.
We must demand that individual police staff with recognized anti-social allegiance, like white supremacy, be carefully monitored and dismissed if their public behavior reflects it.
We need to know the personalities of elected law enforcement (city attorneys, police chiefs, judges, mayors, council members) and vote accordingly.
In truth, our lives depend on it.
The go of the Mo Road Patrol is an African-American who lifestyles in the Ferguson place. Way better optics, and if it is combined with a big de-escalation in overall look and techniques, then it could enhance factors on the roads easily. Spybubble