Friday, August 15, 2014

Name? Ten Steps For Ferguson

Ok, we got the name of the cop who shot Michael Brown.  That is actually a minor and relatively easy step in this process.  What do we need now?
  1. A clear and convincing explanation of how the shooting took place and why.  The police's story reeks and not of awesomeness.
  2. Release of the prelim autopsy.  While CSI might inflate our expectations of how much we can tell from bullet wounds, maybe we can determine some stuff pretty clearly.  Number of bullets that hit Michael Brown?  From what angle? In the front or back?  Distance? 
  3. An investigation and due process that hopefully leads to significant punishment for the cop (yes, I am pre-judging, but if half of what the witnesses say is true, then this guy should not be a cop and should be punished for taking this kid's life).
  4. An investigation into the Ferguson police department for its handling of the shooting.
  5. An investigation into the Ferguson police department for its handling of the protests.
  6. An investigation into the Ferguson police department for its handling of African-Americans prior to these events. [Fire all the perjury-committing cops in the case discussed in this link]
  7. Fire the Police Chief of Ferguson.        
  8. Work towards better representation of African-Americans in this PD.
  9. Engage in very tight oversight by the state authorities over the FPD for the near to medium term.
  10. Organize to run a viable candidate against the mayor who has failed his community.
To be as clear and as profane as I can be, the Ferguson Police Department has been a shit-show from the outset.  The one consistent thread in all of this has been that they have made every wrong move.

Oh, and one more (updated):
   11.  Register African-Americans to vote, maximize turnout via organization (as suggested by my sister) and be vigilant against #Voterfraudfraud


    

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