Riots in Ferguson, and what they mean

[QueEx]

He did, but why let the white police officers off the hook?

I don't think I even whispered "let the officer off the hook." Quite the contrary. I want the facts to come out and the system to apply the law to those facts, and let the chips fall as they may. On the other hand, I just cannot overlook the fact that this community's own negligence may have played a part, however slight, in the shooting. With 67% of the populous, it is quite possible that the government that the people of Ferguson could have elected might have set a different tone within the police department that might have made a difference in the way the police department viewed Michael Brown that day.

True they should conduct their business in a professional objective manner. But, could you imagine a 95% "Black" police force patrolling Mountain Brook?

As you allude, the population mix of the City of Mountain Brook being what it is, it is extremely unlikely that its police force would be 95% Black -- because its black population is nowhere near that. Whatever the racial mix of the Mountain Brook P.D., however, it is what it is because it generally reflects the desires, attitudes, etc., of the Mountain Brook electorate. Hence, my point: it is within the hands of the people of Ferguson to exercise the franchise, with a passion.

 

[QueEx]

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[thoughtone]

 

[thoughtone]

source: The Guardian

Ferguson police to be investigated after shooting of Michael Brown

US Justice Department investigation will go beyond teenager's shooting to look at all practices of predominantly white force

Demonstrators outside the Ferguson, Missouri, police department on 30 August.


The US Justice Department may open a wide-ranging investigation into the practices of the Ferguson police department as early as Thursday following the shooting last month of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer in the St Louis suburb.

A person briefed on the matter said Missouri officials were notified about the inquiry on Wednesday.

The investigation will look at the practices in the past few years of the police department, including patterns of stops, arrests and the use of force, as well as the training officers receive, the person said.

The inquiry is separate from an ongoing civil rights investigation the Justice Department is conducting into the shooting of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson on 9 August. A local grand jury is also investigating the shooting, which set off about two weeks of unrest in the streets of Ferguson and became a flashpoint in the national discussion of police treatment of minorities across the country.

Two weeks ago the US attorney general, Eric Holder, visited the suburb, where he met with investigators and Brown's parents and shared personal experiences of having himself been mistreated by the police.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation, first reported by the Washington Post, had not yet been announced.

Ferguson's police chief, Tom Jackson, did not immediately return a call seeking comment about the Justice Department investigation.

Police have said the shooting followed a scuffle that broke out after Wilson told Brown and a friend to move out of the street and on to a sidewalk. Police say Wilson was pushed into his squad car and physically assaulted. Some witnesses have reported seeing Brown's arms up in the air before the shooting in an act of surrender. An autopsy paid for by Brown's family concluded that he was shot six times, twice in the head.

The new investigation goes far beyond the circumstances of the shooting. It will look at the actions of a police department that is predominantly white even though Ferguson is about 70% black.

Some in Ferguson have said police disproportionately target black motorists during traffic stops. A 2013 report by the Missouri attorney general's office found that Ferguson police stopped and arrested black drivers nearly twice as frequently as white motorists but were also less likely to find contraband among the black drivers.

The Justice Department's civil rights division routinely investigates individual police departments when there are allegations of systemic use-of-force violations, racial bias or other problems. The department says it has opened more than twice as many investigations into police departments in the past five years as were opened in the previous five years. Among those that have recently come under investigation is New Mexico's Albuquerque police department, which was the subject of a harshly critical report in April that faulted the police for a pattern of excessive force and called for an overhaul of its internal affairs unit.

Normally, federal investigations encourage significant changes to policies and practices. The investigations sometimes end in an agreement known as a consent decree, which lays out changes the department must make

 

[QueEx]

Have changes been made in Ferguson?
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[QueEx]

49 People Arrested at Ferguson 'Moral Monday' Protest

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Political activist Cornel West was among the 49 people arrested during the "Moral Monday" march in Ferguson, Missouri this week. CNN reports that police arrested West and 42 of the protesters, who were calling for the arrest of the policeman who shot and killed teenager Michael Brown in August, for disturbing the peace after they allegedly attempted to break through a police line. West had been marching, arm in arm, with religious leaders of different faiths. The six others who were arrested had reportedly blocked traffic and refused to clear a roadway.

Police also reportedly arrested protesters at a Ferguson Walmart, and authorities were said to have handcuffed some who came to a fundraiser in Webster Groves for County Executive Steve Stenger.
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Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...n-moral-monday-protest-20141014#ixzz3GE3RZM9K

 

[QueEx]

The Standoff

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[thoughtone]

source: USA Today

Judge: Ferguson police violated protesters' rights


federal judge ruled Monday that a tactic police used to control protesters in Ferguson, Mo., is unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction halting the practice.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry in St. Louis ordered law enforcement agencies to stop enforcing a requirement that protesters keep moving rather than stand still.

Law enforcement officers, seeking to control angry crowds, had ordered people to walk and not stand still while demonstrating over the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to halt the practice.

Perry wrote in her order that the requirement violates the constitutional rights of protesters. She said she granted a preliminary injunction "because it is likely that these agencies will again apply this unconstitutional policy.''

The judge cautioned, however, that police still can enforce Missouri's failure-to-disperse law and other laws to control crowds and protect people and property.

"This injunction prevents only the enforcement of an ad hoc rule developed for the Ferguson protests that directed police officers, if they felt like it, to order peaceful, law-abiding protesters to keep moving rather than standing still,'' she wrote.

The ACLU and Amnesty International USA hailed the ruling as a victory.

"Vague rules that are applied in a haphazard fashion tend to increase community tension," said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. "Judge Perry's injunction is a huge win for peaceful protesters and those who believe in the rule of law.''

The Missouri Highway Patrol, which was placed in charge of policing protests in Ferguson, said in a statement that its goal "has been to allow citizens to speak while keeping the community safe.''

"Today's ruling is consistent with these principles because it allows protesters to exercise their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble but also allows law enforcement to impose appropriate restrictions to protect the public from violence,'' the Highway Patrol statement said.

Perry's order stops police "from enforcing or threatening to enforce any rule, policy or practice that grants law enforcement officers the authority or discretion to arrest, threaten to arrest or order to move individuals who are violating no statute or regulation and who are peaceably standing, marching or assembling on public sidewalks in Ferguson, Missouri.''

 

[Greed]

Ferguson election triples number of blacks on City Council

Ferguson election triples number of blacks on City Council
Associated Press
By JIM SALTER and JIM SUHR
7 hours ago

Two black candidates were among three people elected to the Ferguson City Council Tuesday, tripling African-American representation in the St. Louis suburb where poor race relations have been a focal point since the August shooting death of an 18-year-old black by a white police officer.

The election means that half of the six-member city council in Ferguson, a town where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black, will now be African-American. The lone black incumbent councilman was not up for re-election. The mayor, who could break any tie votes, is white.

Voter turnout increased substantially from the previous election following a strong get-out-the-vote effort from labor unions and other national organizations. The town that drew only 12.3 percent of registered voters last April had 29.4 percent turnout Tuesday, according to the St. Louis County Board of Elections. That was about double the overall turnout in St. Louis County, where Ferguson is located.

Unofficial results showed that Wesley Bell defeated another black candidate to win in the 3rd Ward. Ella Jones defeated another black candidate and two white candidates in the 1st Ward. Brian Fletcher, a former mayor who is white, won a 2nd Ward race against another white candidate.

"This community came out in record numbers to make sure our voices were heard," said councilman-elect Bell. "When you have a community engaged, the sky is the limit."

He described it as part of a healing and rebuilding process.

It was the first municipal election in Ferguson since officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, on Aug. 9. The shooting sparked sometimes violent protests in the St. Louis area, and spawned a national "Black Lives Matter" movement to press for change in how police deal with local minorities.

It also prompted a review by the U.S. Justice Department, which decided not to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. But the federal department released a scathing report blasting the city for racial bias and profiling in the police department and a profit-driven municipal court system. Several city officials resigned following the review, including the city manager, police chief and municipal judge. The municipal court clerk was fired for racist emails.

The new city council will be tasked with approving hiring of the replacements.

The scrutiny in the wake of the shooting also found that the city had a mostly white police force and city leadership — the mayor also is white.

In the race for the 3rd Ward, which includes the apartment complex where Brown was killed, Bell, 40, easily defeated 76-year-old retiree Lee Smith. Bell is a lawyer and a criminology professor who had to defend himself because of a third job — municipal judge in a neighboring town of Velda City that, like Ferguson, derives a large percentage of its budget from municipal court fines. Smith had support of several national organizations whose volunteers went door-to-door on his behalf.

Jones had support of a labor union and won easily in her four-person race. Fletcher, the former mayor who started the "I Love Ferguson" campaign after the unrest that ravaged the community, also won easily in the 2nd Ward.

A strong push was made after the shooting to register more black voters last year, but just 562 new voters were added to the rolls. In recent weeks, the focus has been on getting those who are registered to vote.

The high turnout came despite brutal weather. Strong storms, including lightning and heavy rain, tore through the region for several hours before noon. But the weather didn't deter Marty Einig, who has participated in Ferguson protests since August. She was voting in the 3rd Ward, which includes the Canfield Green apartment complex where Brown was fatally shot.

"I see there is raw material within this community to demonstrate hope," Einig said. "I see a glass that's half full, and I feel that the people have the will to force change."

Charrolynn Washington agreed. Voting at the First Presbyterian Church of Ferguson, she said the election is where real change will occur.

"As much change is needed here in Ferguson, this is where we begin - not out there in the streets, doing what they were doing - but, right here," Washington said. "They need to be voting and putting people in position to make the change and make the decisions that need to be made."

http://news.yahoo.com/ferguson-voters-polls-elect-3-council-members-062933570.html

 

[QueEx]

Re: Ferguson election triples number of blacks on City Council

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[QueEx]

Re: Ferguson election triples number of blacks on City Council

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[thoughtone]

source: The Root

Change Comes to Ferguson: 3 African Americans to Sit on City Council

An increase in voter turnout led to the historic election of two more African Americans to the six-member City Council—joining one black incumbent—the most ever to sit on the council in Ferguson’s 121-year history.

After Tuesday’s vote, the city of Ferguson, Mo., will have three black members on its City Council for the first time in Ferguson’s history. Although it rained for much of election day, voter turnout was close to three times higher than what it was for the last City Council election in 2013. Many are saying that Tuesday’s turnout was the highest ever for a municipal election.

Ella Jones and Wesley Bell, both victorious last night, will join Dwayne James as the three African Americans to sit on the six-person Ferguson City Council. The council has never had more than one black member in its 121-year history, and Jones is the first black woman ever elected.

Jones, who won Ward 1, received more votes, 824, than her two white male challengers combined.

And Jones wasn’t the only black woman to win big on Tuesday. For the first time in history, the neighboring city of Jennings, Mo., which is 85 percent black, will have an African-American mayor, Yolanda Fountain Henderson. In addition, Courtney Graves was elected to the Ferguson-Florissant school board after beating incumbent Brian Elbert.

“From what I’ve seen today, the community became empowered and came out. That is a win,” tweeted Ferguson Democratic Committeewoman Patricia Bynes as polls closed last night.

Bob Hudgins, a white man who joined in Ferguson’s protests against police brutality, lost his bid to represent mostly white Ward 2 on the City Council. He was defeated by former Ferguson Mayor Brian Fletcher.

This morning, Bynes congratulated Fletcher and said, "Everyone is looking forward toward moving forward in a better direction."

Had Hudgins emerged victorious, the council would have leaned 4-2 against Mayor James Knowles, whom some residents want to see ousted. But the 3-3 split is major progress toward more equal representation in a city that is 67 percent black. An effort to recall Knowles—launched when five residents formed a committee in March to collect signatures for a recall—is currently under way. The group has two months to collect approximately 1,800 signatures, or 15 percent of the total number of eligible voters from the last mayoral election, to force a recall.

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Yesterday’s spring elections were the first since the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in August. The vote coincided with an eerie reminder of Brown’s death, this time out of South Carolina, where yet another black man, Walter Scott, 50, was shot to death at the hands of a white police officer, Michael Slager.

The new Ferguson City Council, which takes over in two weeks, will have a full workload and several benchmark decisions on its agenda.

“There’s a lot of work in front of them as far as picking the police chief, dealing with the DOJ report and getting to a consent decree. There’s a lot to do, and I look forward to working with them,” said Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) to The Root after Tuesday’s vote. Ferguson is in the district that Clay represents in Congress.

The council must also select a new city manager and municipal judge, both of whom resigned, along with Chief of Police Tom Jackson, in the wake of a critical Department of Justice report that implicated the officials in a wide-ranging scheme of racially biased public extortion focused on fines and ticketing to raise revenue.

Clay also said that the various turnout efforts undertaken before the election “expanded the universe” of voters and created a path for victory for several candidates. Labor groups such as the Communications Workers of America and the Service Employees International Union knocked on doors and helped with get-out-the-vote efforts on the ground in Ferguson. Five members of the Congressional Black Caucus also donated money to assist the campaigns of Ferguson City Council candidates.