From what I understand he DID NOT rob the store. Surveillance clearly shows him paying.
That said if the police were elected by the communities they serve, the way they are in some countries, this wouldn't happen.
If the US were not a deeply racist nation this wouldn't happen. I have seen first hand the difference between how a young man of any color other than pink is treated by "cop culture". I know that my son is treated differently by the cops than his cousins who are darker IN THE EXACT SAME SITUATION. Anyone who pretends differently is either a liar or willfully blind.
I have not seen any video of him paying, but I have seen video of him pushing his way out the door as the owner seems to be trying to stop him. I also have read the testimony of the friend who was supposedly with him that says he did steal the items, and that he was very unhappy about it because he was afraid HE was going to get in trouble for it. There are so many holes and inconsistencies in this entire story from start to finish, but I would think that at lest the guy who was with him in the store would know whether he paid or not, and would have said so… I dont' at all disagree about the racism aspect. Had these two been white, would the cop have even started this conversation in the street? Would he have flipped out if they had 'disrespected' him? maybe not. There is a whole hell of a lot to be fixed. And it won't be…. nothing will probably change. Which is really sad.
Okay, so I googled to see if there was something about Mike Brown paying, and I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maA1FUJqhew, which doesn't quite clear things up. What I'm seeing is he takes stuff to the register. Unfortunately this seems to clip off the beginning so I don't' see him paying, or taking money out.. at least not clearly. His hands are behind him but not in his pocket. He clearly should be paying for something, or why would he have gone to the counter? I see things being dropped, I see the clerk pull things in off the counter that Brown doesn't take..and then I see the clerk come around. Did the clerk suspect him of stealing and confront him for not paying for something? I don't know. Maybe I can find that side on one of the transcripts. It's a moot point in a way, but it's part of the overall 'he said she said' of the witnesses
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Hmmmmmm I suppose the thing to me was primarily that Darren Wilson said he was frighten for his life of an unarmed man when he had a taser, a gun, and a baton and training in all of them. What made him so terrifying? Apparently his skin color.
Having read the transcript of his version of events and the friends, I would have to say he was terrified he had lost control of the situation. Which is why he shot through the door. That said.. once Brown left the door and walked away.. that's when he truly made the mistake of going after him with the gun. I think at that point he was pretty hell bent on shooting him. Maybe not killing him, but shooting him and stopping him. I mean, he cant let him get away with that after all (I'm thinking his mentality maybe). He claims he could not get to anything else and did not have a taser? I think. I can double check that. Close quarters and a guy in your face hitting you.. I can see where he'd be scared shitless. Again, part of that might very well have been his own making. Stupid decision, stupid way of dealing with any situation. This was not a murder, just a shoplifting.. why it escalated so much is just beyond me. I really think they both had a part in it.. and I say that based on the description and 'attitude' that Mike left the store
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I'm sure you are right. Also watching the news this morning something I did not pick up on was that the cop was not 'cross examined' in the same way, he just told his side. I have no idea what a grand jury is supposed to do or how they handle things, but that does seem to be glaring. And the question of why he even stopped these kids? He gave no indication that he felt they were the ones in the robbery, or that he was stopping them for that. He didn't even act like he was stopping someone suspected in a robbery.. So yeah, he started out on the wrong foot to begin with as far as his end goes. And again, just escalated it from there.
That said if the police were elected by the communities they serve, the way they are in some countries, this wouldn't happen.
If the US were not a deeply racist nation this wouldn't happen.
I have seen first hand the difference between how a young man of any color other than pink is treated by "cop culture". I know that my son is treated differently by the cops than his cousins who are darker IN THE EXACT SAME SITUATION. Anyone who pretends differently is either a liar or willfully blind.
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I dont' at all disagree about the racism aspect. Had these two been white, would the cop have even started this conversation in the street? Would he have flipped out if they had 'disrespected' him? maybe not.
There is a whole hell of a lot to be fixed. And it won't be…. nothing will probably change. Which is really sad.
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I suppose the thing to me was primarily that Darren Wilson said he was frighten for his life of an unarmed man when he had a taser, a gun, and a baton and training in all of them.
What made him so terrifying?
Apparently his skin color.
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