MISSOURI CROWD AFTER FATAL SHOOTING OF UNARMED BLACK TEEN: ‘KILL THE POLICE’

THE VIDEO ABOVE WAS POSTED ON YOU TUBE BY A GROUP CALLED “ANONYMOUS,” SHOWING MICHAEL BROWN’S BODY IN THE STREET.

“My grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn’t tell me nothing.- Desiree Harris”

“He (the officer) shot again and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air,” said Dorian Johnson, a friend Brown’s. “He started to get down and the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and fired several more shots.”

“THIS is an epidemic. Cop killings of unarmed citizens have exploded under Holder …. and the victims are youth (black and white), women, children and minorities, overwhelmingly – it appears that cops are now being trained to use deadly force at what they perceive to be resistance.”

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER of Associated Press

August 10, 2014

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The fatal shooting of a black teenager by police sent hundreds of angry residents out of their apartments Saturday in a St. Louis suburb, igniting shouts of “kill the police” during a confrontation that lasted several hours.

A St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP called for the FBI to look into the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis. Brown’s grandmother, Desiree Harris, said she saw him running in her neighborhood Saturday afternoon when she passed him in her car. Just minutes later, after she returned home, she heard a commotion and went outside to check on it. Less than two blocks away, she found Brown’s body. “He was running this way,” she said. “When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn’t tell me nothing.”

Several distraught relatives were outside talking with neighbors, including Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, and stepfather, Louis Head. Head held a sign that read: “Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!”

Lesley McSpadden is comforted by her husband Louis Head after their son Michael Brown was killed by police.

A spokesman with the St. Louis County Police Department, which is investigating the shooting at the request of the local department, confirmed a Ferguson police officer shot the man. The spokesman didn’t give the reason for the shooting. St. Louis County police said a large crowd confronted officers following the shooting, yelling such things as “kill the police.”

John Gaskin, a member of the St. Louis County NAACP, said the FBI should get involved “to protect the integrity of the investigation.” He alluded to the 2012 racially-charged shooting of a 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was subsequently acquitted of murder charges, as well as the death of a New York man from a police chokehold after he was confronted for selling individual cigarettes on the street.

“With the recent events of a young man killed by the police in New York City and with Trayvon Martin and with all the other African-American young men that have been killed by police officers … this is a dire concern to the NAACP, especially our local organization,” Gaskin said.

Gaskin said officials in the organization spoke with St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, who told them teenager had been shot twice.

By early Saturday night, dozens of police cars remained parked near the shooting scene as mourners left votive candles, rose petals, a large stuffed animal and other remembrances at a makeshift memorial in the middle of the street. At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police at the scene called for about 60 other police units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents, about two-thirds of whom are black.

Harris said her grandson had recently graduated high school and was looking forward to the future, including possibly attending college.

“My grandson never even got into a fight,” she said. “He was just looking forward to getting on with his life. He was on his way.”

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told the Post-Dispatch that the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.

“We are hoping for calm and for people to give us a chance to conduct a thorough investigation,” Jackson said.

Gaskin said the angry crowd was reacting to a “trauma.”

“Anytime you have this type of event that’s taken place, emotions are going to run high,” he said. “But for 600 people to gather around an area to see where a man is lying in the street, that means something happened that should have not happened.”

Associated Press writer Maria Sudekum contributed from Kansas City, Missouri.

FROM KMOV TV (excerpt)

Witnesses tell News 4 that Mike Brown, 18, was unarmed and had his hands in the air when he was shot multiple times by the a Ferguson police officer. Police have not confirmed those claims and they have not released any details of the incident other than an officer was involved and that he has been placed on administrative leave.

Esther Haywood, Pres. St. Louis County NAACP

Dorian Johnson tells News 4 he was walking with Brown when the officer confronted them and drew his weapon.

“He (the officer) shot again and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air,” said Dorian Johnson, a friend pf Brown’s. “He started to get down and the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and fired several more shots.”

St. Louis County NAACP President Esther Haywood told News 4 that Brown was shot once by the officer and then an additional nine times as he lay in the street. Police have not confirmed that account.

LATIMES COVERAGE

Hundreds of people gathered in the street outside an apartment complex in a St. Louis suburb on Saturday, screaming obscenities and “kill the police” after a police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old man.

The victim was identified by relatives as Michael Brown, who was scheduled to begin college classes Monday, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Brown’s grandmother, Desiree Harris, told the Associated Press that she was driving through the neighborhood Saturday afternoon when she saw her grandson running a few blocks from her house.

“He was running this way,” she said. “When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn’t tell me nothing.”

A spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department confirmed to the Associated Press that it was a Ferguson police officer who shot the man, but did not identify the officer and did not immediately give a reason for the shooting.

Calls by The Times to the police were not returned.

Louis Head, Brown’s stepfather, held a sign that said “Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!” the Post Dispatch reported. And Lesley McSpadden, Brown’s mother, said the shooting was “wrong and it was cold-hearted.”

By early Saturday night, dozens of police cars remained parked near the shooting scene as mourners left votive candles at a makeshift memorial in the middle of the street.

At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police at the scene called for about 60 other police units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents, about two-thirds of whom are black, the AP reported.

The crowd eventually dispersed and police scheduled a news conference for Sunday morning.

“We are hurt to hear that yet another teenaged boy has been slaughtered by law enforcement especially in light of the recent death of Eric Garner in New York who was killed for selling cigarettes,” St. Louis County NAACP President Esther Haywood said in a statement. “We plan to do everything within our power to ensure that the Ferguson Police Department as well as the St. Louis County Police Department releases all details pertinent to the shooting.”

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told KMOV, the St. Louis CBS-affiliate, that St. Louis County Police have taken over the investigation and the officer involved in the shooting has been put on paid administrative leave.

U.S. AG Eric Holder at NAACP national conference.

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 Comment: “THIS is an epidemic. Cop killings of unarmed citizens have exploded under Holder …. and the victims are youth (black and white), women, children and minorities, overwhelmingly – it appears that cops are now being trained to use deadly force at what they perceive to be resistance or…” Reader of above story

REBELLION CONTINUES IN MISSOURI VS. POLICE MURDER OF TEEN

Vandalism, looting after unarmed Missouri teen is shot by police

Teen killed in police shooting, outrages community: A Missouri teenager is dead and a community outraged after a police officer opened fire during a shootout.

By Jim Salter The Associated Press

8:30 AM, August 11, 2014

FERGUSON, MO. — A day of anger over a fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in suburban St. Louis turned to mayhem as people looted businesses, vandalized vehicles and confronted police in riot gear who tried to block access to parts of the city.

The tensions erupted after a candlelight vigil Sunday night for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times Saturday after a scuffle involving the officer, Brown and another person in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of the city.

Related: Police:Black teen killed in Missouri was unarmed

Several businesses near the shooting scene were looted, including a convenience store, a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store. People took items from a sporting goods store and a cellphone retailer, and carted rims away from a tire store.

TV footage showed streams of people walking from a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters stood atop police cars or taunted officers who stood stoic, some carrying shields and batons. Video posted online by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch showed a convenience store on fire.

Witnesses reported seeing people vandalize police cars and kick in windows. Television footage showed windows busted out of a TV station van.

Police struggled to catch any looters because crimes were happening at several locations in Ferguson and spilling into neighboring communities, Mayor James Knowles told KTVI-TV. It wasn’t immediately clear how many arrests were made. Authorities set up blockades to keep people from the most looted areas.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said there were no reports of injuries as of about 11 p.m. But there were scattered reports of assaults into the early morning. Pat Washington, a spokeswoman for Dooley, said tear gas had been used. There were scattered media reports of gunfire but authorities did not immediately confirm any.

“The small group of people are creating a huge mess,” Knowles said. “Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help. … We’re only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors.”

Earlier Sunday, a few hundred protesters gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters. Some marched into an adjacent police building chanting “Don’t shoot me” while holding their hands in the air. Officers stood at the top of a staircase, but didn’t use force; the crowd eventually left.

County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shooting occurred after an officer encountered Brown and another man outside an apartment complex in Ferguson.

Belmar said one of the men pushed the officer into his squad car and a struggle began. (VOD: and so the cover-up begins.)

Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer’s gun inside the police car. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car. It was not clear if Brown was the man who struggled with the officer.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar (left) talks about the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Michael Broown as Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson listens during a news conference Sunday in Missouri.

The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Belmar said the exact number of shots wasn’t known and that all shell casings at the scene matched the officer’s gun. Police were investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.

 

Jackson said the second person has not been arrested or charged and it wasn’t clear if he was armed.

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told KSDK-TV there’s no video footage of the shooting from the apartment complex, or from any police cruiser dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras that the department recently bought but hasn’t yet put to use. (VOD: Detroit police were cited by the Justice Dept. for  deliberately having inoperable dashboard cameras in their cars.)

Jackson said blood samples were taken from Brown and the officer who shot him. Toxicology tests take weeks to complete.

Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, said she didn’t understand why police didn’t subdue her high school graduate son with a club or stun gun, and that the officer involved should be fired and prosecuted.

“I would like to see him go to jail with the death penalty,” she said, fighting back tears.

The killing drew criticism from some civil rights leaders, who referred to the 2012 racially charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was acquitted of murder charges.

John Gaskin of St. Louis County NAACP, also member of national board.

“We’re outraged because yet again a young African-American man has been killed by law enforcement,” said John Gaskin, who serves on both the St. Louis County and national boards of directors for the NAACP.

 

St. Louis County Police Department is in charge of the investigation, and Dooley said he will request an FBI investigation. The U.S. Justice Department said Attorney General Eric Holder instructed staff to monitor developments.

The race of the officer involved in the shooting has not been disclosed. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Associated Press writer Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.

MICHAEL BROWN: A GENTLE GIANT

Michael Brown posted a haunting message on Facebook last week as he prepared to enter a new phase in his life — college.

“if i leave this earth today,” he wrote to a friend, “at least you’ll know i care about others more then i cared about my damn self.”

Brown, 18, died Saturday after a Ferguson police officer shot him multiple times outside an apartment complex as he walked to his grandmother’s home. Brown was two days from starting class at Vatterott College. Close friends had been packing up and departing for schools such as Kansas State University and Arkansas Baptist University on sports scholarships.

Vatterott College

“Everyone else wanted to be a football player, a basketball player,” said Gerard Fuller, who had known Brown since second grade at Pine Lawn Elementary School. “He wanted to own his own business. He’d say, ‘Let’s make something out of nothing.’”

 

Brown graduated from high school at the predominately African-American Normandy High School, a high-poverty school in a district that has been at the center of legislative battles and a string of politically charged decisions by the Missouri Board of Education.

Teachers described Brown as a “gentle giant,” a student who loomed large and didn’t cause trouble. Friends describe him as a quiet person with a wicked sense of humor, one who loved music and had begun to rap. He fought an uphill battle to graduate.