What About the ‘Get on the Sidewalk’ Story? And 5 Other Mike Brown Questions for Ferguson Officials

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Keith Boykin ‏@keithboykin (CNBC contributor. MSNBC commentator. BET columnist. NY Times bestselling author. Public Speaker. Clinton White House aide. Harvard Law graduate) 24m
New post: Six questions for officials in Ferguson. #MikeBrown #DarrenWilson #Ferguson http://keithboykin.com/post/94829449161/six-questions-for-officials-in-ferguson …

-- Who is Darren Wilson?

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson today identified the name of the officer who shot Michael Brown as Darren Wilson. But they provided no information about him other than his name, his length of time with the force (six years), and that no disciplinary action has been taken against him in the past. Jackson didn’t tell us the officer’s age, his experience, or anything else relevant. Nor did the chief explain if Wilson had ever been accused of any improper conduct that did not result in disciplinary action. Chief Jackson wouldn’t even release his photo.

--Why are we just hearing about an alleged robbery?

After a long-winded press conference that never discussed anything about the actual shooting of Michael Brown, Chief Jackson released a packet of information with still photos of a robbery at a local convenience store allegedly involving Michael Brown. Then the chief left without taking questions. If his story is true, why hasn’t this been released before? Why are we just hearing about it now that police have been forced to release Darren Wilson’s name.

--Why wasn’t Dorian Johnson arrested?

If Michael Brown was stopped by police for possible involvement in the robbery, why wasn’t his accomplice Dorian Johnson arrested too?

--How does an alleged robbery justify shooting an unarmed teen?

Capt. Ronald Johnson criticizes Ferguson police chief press conference, says alleged robbery separate from shooting.

--What happened to the ‘get on the sidewalk’ story?

Some initial reports indicated that police confronted Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson for jaywalking in the street and told them to get on the sidewalk. What happened to that explanation? And if those reports were true, then was that the purpose of the stop or was it the alleged robbery?

--Why is Bob McCulloch leading an investigation?
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read more: http://keithboykin.com/post/94829449161/six-questions-for-officials-in-ferguson

[bravenak]

1. Yes.

What happened to jaywalking?

[bigtree]

2. well, that's right

. . . still, we have to wrap our heads around the fact that being black in America is, for these police officers, a capital offense

Keith Boykin @keithboykin · 28s
As I said earlier, James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others when he shot up Colorado theater. And the police didn't shoot him.

[bravenak]

3. They didn't shoot Jeffrey Dahmer.

Matter of fact, they allowed him to take one of his victims back inside of his death smelling apartment. He finished killing the escaped victim. You remember? It was horrid.

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Robbery is a more compelling excuse for ...

deadly force than jay-walking ... besides, jay-walking doesn't exactly extend the "Thug" narrative.

[bravenak]

7. Um, Sir?

That's strong arm robbery. Sounds scarier than just robbery or shoplifting.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Yeah ...

what was I thinking?!?

[bravenak]

10. It's like the deadly sidewalk.

Or the thug music blasting. Very scary.

[Skidmore]

4. About Dorian Johnson,

I heard a report on MSNBC a couple of days ago that the Ferguson police were looking for him because of "outstanding warrants" but could not find him. Meanwhile, he was appearing for various interviews on the news. After hearing that warrant story, I was waiting to hear that there was an arrest or a surrender, but that has not occurred. This left me wondering what they had planned to do to this young man, possibly to silence him somehow. This smelled.

[VanGoghRocks]

5. With reference to only the first question here, there is a dodgy FB profile page

that was created only . . . today!

Seriously fucking creepy stuff. I hope the U.S. Attorney for that district is a good one.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007796506987

[bigtree]

8. I saw your post and I wish you well in the pursuit of your question

. . . about the history of the shooter.

It does appear that details are being left out which don't bring his identity to the level, at least, of what we already know about the victim. I would think that a lot of folks are working on that question - which is much more relevant and consequential to this investigation than the tangential allegation of theft or robbery.

[mythology]

11. That's all but certainly a fake page

Created by somebody else.

There are still plenty of people who don't have a Facebook account.

[GliderGuider]

12. That page says he is a "Deputy Commissioner"???

I don't know much about police ranks in the USA. Is that credible?

On edit: Never mind, it has to be a fake. Let's see how long it stays up.