All of Us Are Beautiful, Perfect Angels, Except Mike Brown, Who Liked Rap Music

[n2doc]

By Luke O'Neil

It took all of five seconds after the news of Ferguson, Missouri teen Mike Brown's shooting broke for the media to begin the standard image makeover that transpires whenever a black man is killed by authorities.

NBC News came hot out of the gates with an image of Brown perfectly tailored for speculation about his potential gang affiliations, for example. Fox News, predictably, has had a field day writing Mike Brown-based fan fiction, circulating the specious and since-debunked claim that Officer Darren Wilson had suffered a fractured orbital bone after being assaulted by Brown. The Ferguson police played directly to the crowd themselves, releasing the images of Brown's alleged convenience store robbery in an attempt to justify his being murdered.

Much like we saw with the Trayvon Martin fiasco, this is how the well is poisoned. The narrative shifts from the murder of an unarmed boy to the somewhat understandable use of force against an aggressive man to, by the time we're done digging through his trash, the heroic dispatching of a thug who had it coming. This is why the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown hashtag on Twitter was so poignant and telling: Which of us, if we were in Brown's shoes, particularly young black men, could not be made out as a violent criminal based on the images of ourselves available online?

Look no further than the hundreds of thousands of dollars being raised by so-called supporters of Wilson, many of whom have left the most vile comments imaginable, for evidence of how thoroughly this re-branding has worked. Hell, open any comments section on any website in existence, including this one, for reams of evidence for how absolutely convinced some people are that Brown was basically The Wire's Avon Barksdale incarnate.

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http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/beautiful-perfect-angels

[L0oniX]

1. Just like I am in a supreme leader of a satanic cult ...because I like death metal.

[PeteSelman]

2. Suuuure......you're not.

[L0oniX]

3. Where'd you get the real picture of Skinner?

[brer cat]

4. I wonder how many of these eager slimers

would have passed the "angel" test at age 18? I wonder how many of us would? I have many memories of things my senior year of hs and freshman year of college that I would not want published in a newspaper, much less being the last thing I was judged by.

[Jerry442]

5. The right wing has gotten really good at this.

They know that when there's a major event they need to get a narrative that fits their worldview out in front of the public as soon as possible. Doesn't matter if the picture painted is based on irrelevant or fabricated facts. What matters is putting something out there ASAP that their followers can hang on to that relieves them of the need to change their minds about anything.

[justiceischeap]

7. So for that, Michael Brown and any other person who robs a convenience store

deserves execution?

[zeemike]

8. He did not rob a convenience store

When you rob you take the cash out of the cash register...not a box of stogies.
But that is how you frame things...always use the most pejorative term...and it can work in reverse if you are rich and white...you can steal millions and it will be called a mistake or bad business deal.

[joeglow3]

9. So, if someone broke into your home and took all your stuff, you were not robbed...

...so long as they did not take any cash?

Now, to make the leap that since someone robbed someone/some place they deserve to be shot and killed is despicable. However, in a situation like this, expect events that, statistically speaking, can speak to the character of the individuals involved to be brought up. To expect the fact that he allegedly robbed a store and assaulted a clerk minutes prior to this to not be brought up is intellectually dishonest. I also expect any transgressions from the police officer prior to this altercation to be brought up and explored. While these events uncovered may not be directly related to the altercation, it can help to provide insight into their actions. At a minimum, they should be looked at to see if they can provide insight into the motivations of either party involved.

[Rex]

10. They still have to prove he robbed the store, which is something they have failed to do.

Since the owner didn't press charges, there was no crime committed. Unless someone can produce a police report with Browns name on it.

[joeglow3]

13. If we are talking about a court of law, I agree.

Outside a court of law, we all apply a much lower standard when analyzing these things. Bush has never, as far as I am aware, had a police report with his name on it for murder.

Now, I am not saying he did rob a store (which is why I made sure to say allegedly). However, there not being a police report (which would be meaningless at this point, does not preclude someone from viewing video footage and potentially identifying someone.

[Rex]

14. True, but since the alleged prime suspect is dead it will be hard to get his side of the story.

Yes public opinion can have a very low standard.

[zeemike]

15. He did not break into the store and steal all their stuff.

If a kid steals a candy bar from the store and he is white you call it shoplifting...not robbery.
But it seems if he is black it is called robbery.
That is the power of words in action.

[joeglow3]

17. Honestly, I consider it robbery if it is accompanied by a physical transgression

Now, I have no clue what happened in this specific case and have not had the time to dig into whatever evidence people claim. I know there appears to be a video, but I have not viewed it so see how clear it is or what it shows.

That said, I agree if someone slips a candy bar into their pocket, I would call it shoplifting. I guess I look at it slightly different if you are confronted and it escalates into something more.

But, I can also see what you are saying.

[Crabby Appleton]

19. That's not how the legal statutes define robbery.

No mention of cash or cash registers, only of theft or attempted theft accompanied by force or threat of force.

[erpowers]

12. Two Things

First, we do not know whether there was even a robbery. It seems that the store owner/clerk did not call in a robbery. Someone in the store made the call. Maybe the person making the call was not aware of what was really going on between the store owner and the person in the video. If there was actually a robbery why did the owner/clerk not make a robbery call? Why has the owner/clerk not appeared on TV to confirm there was a robbery? Second, as far as I know it has not been confirmed that Michael Brown was the person in the video.

[MohRokTah]

11. "He was no angel" = today's "He's a 'N-word'" eom

[Brigid]

16. We know Michael Brown was no angel.

Neither is anybody else. But we also know this: Brown did absolutely nothing to earn himself a summary execution. Not even close. What happened was cold-blooded murder, and needs to be prosecuted as such. It really is that simple.

[Flatulo]

18. Here's the thing... When I see a cop following me, I shit myself. I mean, I really, really am

terrified. I get so nervous that I'm afraid my driving will be affected. I'm afraid that if I zig 3 fucking centimeters to the left, I'll be pulled over and removed from my vehicle and searched.

That's mainly because I'm always under the mild influence of prescription painkillers. I take a very low dosage, but I usually have one or two with me in case my back starts acting up while I'm out and about. They're perfectly legal, prescribed every month by a specialized pain clinic and all that.

But because of the stupid, motherfucking War on Drugs, people like me are now being detained and arrested for driving while under the effect of them. Even if you are asked to, and pass a field sobriety test, you will be arrested and dragged off to jail. The unspoken but official policy in Massachusetts is to always, always arrest, and then let a judge figure it out. I was told by several pharmacists that carrying the prescription bottle with you everywhere won't help. They still arrest, arrest, arrest.

So what I'm really, really afraid of is being manhandled by some 300 lb goon into some compliance position that will send a jolt of incredible pain down my spine. Fuck, this happens to me just by walking. And when I react to the pain, the 300 lb goon, who will by then have been joined by other 300 lb goons, will say "QUIT FUCKING RESISTING" and they will all lay in with a will. And the more I struggle, the more they'll say "QUIT FUCKING RESISTING" and so on until I'm paralyzed or worse. I suppose I'll be lucky if I'm only tazed or maced a few times.

And there will be not one thing I can do about it.

Oh yeah, I'm 58 years old and white. Can you even imagine what it feels like to be a young black man in the vicinity of the cops? I can't. I just can't.

What Mike Brown was or wasn't is irrelevant to the police. He could have been a bank robber or a bible student, because to the police, he was one thing - a threat, something to be contained, or failing that, to be put down.

So even if officer Wilson is found to have murdered Mike Brown, it really won't change anything, because every other young (and not-so-young) black male will continue to be perceived by the police to be a threat. There will be more Mike Browns, I'm afraid. More every week.