Sunday, August 17, 2014

Ferguson and the politics of the Michael Brown murder

More civil unrest took place Sunday night in Ferguson MO: Live from Ferguson: Police try to calm a gassed and angry crowd St Louis Post-Dispatch 08/17/2014.

Frances Robles and Julie Bosmanaug report on Michael Brown's autopsy in Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times New York Times 08/17/2014.

The politics of this will be tricky, as always. For Republican segregationists, it's fine that yet another young black man was murdered by a white cop. And they will grasp at any piece of real or imagined evidence against the murdered man to justify the shooting.

But it's not legal or any any way okay for a cop to fire multiple bullets into the body of an unarmed man, suspect or not, who is not resisting or threatening the cop in any way.

And if this is going to stop, the Democratic Party will have to start taking a stand against this and find a way to make the politics work by discrediting the Republican Party's segregationist position rather than pandering to it. And cops who murder people under cover of their uniforms and badges need to be prosecuted and sentenced just like any other murderer.

There have been some encouraging moments, including the following.

Capt Ron Johnson Receives Standing Ovation At Michael Brown Memorial MOX News 08/17/2014:



Gov. Jay Nixon Denounces Release of Tape - Put Ferguson " On Alert Again " - MSNBC - 8-17-14

Missouri's Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon also had some decent things to say on the case. He will no doubt be bitterly criticized by Missouri Republicans, who nominated the egregationist and woman-hater Todd Akin as their 2012 Senate candidate.



Sarah Gray also reports on Nixon's statements in Gov. Jay Nixon: “We disagree deeply” with release of security camera footage Salon 08/17/2014.

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