Today we learned that theft is a capital crime in Missouri

[Hugabear]

At least, it is if you're a young black male.

[MineralMan]

1. Just being a young black man might be enough

in Ferguson, it seems. Very ugly stuff.

[valerief]

2. SWB--shoplifting while black. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Which is often

Shopping while black. Even if you aren't shop lifting - trust me - we get treated like we are!

Which cracks me up because I'm the person shopping at Macy's on a Saturday afternoon - not working there. It just makes me laugh.

[valerief]

7. Yep, shopping while black, too. Maybe it should all be reduced BWB,

breathing while black. The haters just can't tolerate all that breathing.

[cleduc]

4. I don't think so

That's a rush to judgement without all the facts.

Still looks and smells like excessive force was used. And if it was, that police officer is likely to be held to account. But we haven't seen and heard all the evidence yet.

Yesterday, I had the impression Mike Brown was an honest, meek and mild student who got profiled before being shot. Today, we learned Mike wasn't as nice or honest or meek a guy as some were making him out to be.

Tomorrow, we might learn more.

To rush to judgement against the police officer right now, although there are good grounds to suspect excessive force, is flirting with a somewhat similar rush to judgement, although not a heinous, as shooting a shop lifter in the back.

Due process.

And that due process will answer if "theft is a capital crime in Missouri". The answer may well turn out to be "a cop killing a guy for theft is a capital crime in Missouri"

[mythology]

5. No you haven't

You still don't know what events occured between Brown and the cop. If the reports that the cop suffered facial injuries and Brown grabbed for the cop's gun are true, we learned that's a stupid thing to do.

Maybe the same guy who was pushing around a clerk did nothing to the cop, but we have absolutely learned that Michael Brown wasn't above getting physical with other people.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. Though I suspect the cop murdered Mike Brown, how about let's wait and find

out first what happened when the cop first encountered Mike. I'm of the opinion that the cop, as reported, encountered Mike and Dorian Johnson due to jaywalking, and not because of the alledged strong-arm robbery. Then we need to know the details of the interaction from that contact.

If this was initially a jaywalking incident, then it's not a case of theft as a capital crime. It's a case of what happened that caused the cop to fire shots at Mike Brown, not a theft investigation and execution.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. You know -

You would think that as easy as it was to get a police report released for an alleged crime on Sunday (theft/shoplifting)

They could have released one on the actual killing.

I'm just saying . . .

[ChisolmTrailDem]

9. True. Update: Since I posted the comment above, Chief Jackson confirmed that Wilson

did not encounter Mike Brown as a result of the strong-arm robbery investigation. It was because he was jaywalking.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. Now I really can't trust that guy

Seriously - he needs to be much more precise in his communications.

We all need to bombard his email with a request to release the police report on the killing.

What he did today? That pdf was one hell of a cheap shot.

[MohRokTah]

12. Cop didn't know about the theft. It's jaywalking that's a capital crime. eom

[TheKentuckian]

13. No, plausibly arguable suspicion of theft. You know whether they even knew or not.

Starting to despise some people on this.