by TeaPartyCat
Ferguson Police Chief spent the morning going over documents and video tape related to a nearby theft that Michael Brown was a suspect in. Robbery. Top suspect.
Then after all that, Chief Jackson said this afternoon:
“The initial contact between the officer and Mr. Brown was not related to the robbery,” Thomas Jackson, the police chief, said during a news conference Friday afternoon.So then Brown wasn’t shot because he was a suspect fleeing a petty crime— not that fleeing a theft is grounds for shooting— but for how he handled being stopped for jaywalking. Jaywalking.Rather, it stemmed from the fact that Brown and his friend were “walking down the street blocking traffic,” Jackson said.
So why did Chief Jackson spend all morning on the robbery details? By his own admission now, those details played NO ROLE in the shooting. NONE.
Hmmm. Here’s a few thoughts that I flagged on Twitter today, which I think get to the heart of it:
AdamSerwer @AdamSerwer
Someone at the press conference just said "seems like you're only answering questions that demean the character of Mike Brown"
Shaun King @ShaunKing
What I know is this: when an unarmed Black man/woman is killed by police or by another citizen, a period of character assassination begins.
BWD @theonlyadult
Took a week, but we finally at the moment where Mike Brown Is officially a suspect in his own murder. #Ferguson
11:22 AM - 15 Aug 2014
So the robbery played no part, but Chief Jackson spent all morning smearing a man his officer killed over a jaywalking encounter. And that is why he is the Asshole of the Day.
It is Thomas Jackson’s first time as Asshole of the Day.
Full story: Washington Post.
Weary
of Wonderland
August
15, 2014
