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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMichael Brown's Mom Laid Flowers Where He Was Shot---Police Crushed Them-Let Dog Urinate On Memorial
Michael Brown's Mom Laid Flowers Where He Was Shotand Police Crushed ThemNew details emerge about callous tactics that fueled anger in Ferguson.
As darkness fell on Canfield Drive on August 9, a makeshift memorial sprang up in the middle of the street where Michael Brown's body had been sprawled in plain view for more than four hours. Flowers and candles were scattered over the bloodstains on the pavement. Someone had affixed a stuffed animal to a streetlight pole a few yards away. Neighborhood residents and others were gathering, many of them upset and angry.
Soon, police vehicles reappeared, including from the St. Louis County Police Department, which had taken control of the investigation. Several officers emerged with dogs. What happened next, according to several sources, was emblematic of what has inflamed the city of Ferguson, Missouri, ever since the unarmed 18-year-old was gunned down: An officer on the street let the dog he was controlling urinate on the memorial site.
The incident was related to me separately by three state and local officials who worked with the community in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. One confirmed that he interviewed an eyewitness, a young woman, and pressed her on what exactly she saw. "She said that the officer just let the dog pee on it," that official told me. "She was very distraught about it." The identity of the officer who handled the dog and the agency he was with remain unclear.
Candles and flowers marking the spot where Brown died were soon run over by police vehicles.
The day brought other indignities for Brown's family, and the community. Missouri state Rep. Sharon Pace, whose district includes the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, told me she went to the scene that afternoon to comfort the parents, who were blocked by police from approaching their son's body. Pace purchased some tea lights for the family, and around 7 p.m. she joined Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, and others as they placed the candles and sprinkled flowers on the ground where Brown had died. "They spelled out his initials with rose petals over the bloodstains," Pace recalled.
MORE:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/ferguson-st-louis-police-tactics-dogs-michael-brown
MADem
(135,425 posts)the whole lot with flowers for the police to run over.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)I knew they would not allow another relative near his body. That is shocking, inhumane and imo, should be cause for firing them.
ColesCountyDem
(6,943 posts)As grotesque as it may seem, at that point, the body has become evidence. You don't allow anyone to contaminate the evidence.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)The police car is also part of the evidence in this case. The officer who killed Michael Brown claims he wrestled with him while he was inside the car to get his gun. There would be forensic evidence of that on the car, if it occurred. And the police officer himself was allowed to leave the scene. Where did HE go, shouldn't he have been there to describe how everything happened?
SOP requires FIRST AND FOREMOST treating the victim. Trying to revive him. How did they know he could not be revived? Are you saying they are not supposed to try to save a life in a situation like this? Because it might destroy evidence?
I have never heard of a body left on the ground for over four hours. Generally once the coroner arrives, the body can be removed. Until then, screens should have been placed around the teenager.
ColesCountyDem
(6,943 posts)1. Driving (most likely towing) the vehicle from the crime scene is SOP. The vehicle is taken to a police garage or impound area where evidence technicians process it for physical evidence.
2. Allowing the officer (or any other witness or suspect) to leave the scene is also SOP, although I'm 99.99% sure Officer Wilson was not 'free' to gallivant around, at that point. Again, I'm 99.99% sure that he was taken a.) for medical treatment, IF injured, and b.) detained for an interview with detectives from St. Louis Co. homicide/crimes against persons.
3.) Some injuries are clearly incompatible with life, and treating or attempting to resuscitate the victim is NOT always 'first and foremost'. When I was in law enforcement, I've seen numerous instances where that was the case. Even first responders and paramedics are taught that there are circumstances where 'DNR' (do not resuscitate) is the protocol under the guidelines established by your resource hospital. Pronouncing someone dead is a ministerial act delegated to a physician, medical examiner or coroner, depending on the jurisdiction, and is not to be confused with a decision to not resuscitate.
4.) I've known numerous instances where a body was left in situ for several hours, most often in the case of suicide or homicide of some sort. The medical examiner's time of arrival is largely irrelevant to the decision of whether or not a body will be moved. Although statutorily 'in charge' of the body, I never heard of a coroner of medical examiner who attempted to move a body until the crime-scene technicians indicated that it was OK with them to do so. That said, I find the fact that no attempt was made to cover or screen off Mr. Brown's body reprehensible. That is something my department ALWAYS did, and we carried sterile plastic sheets expressly for that purpose; why St. Louis County did not do so is as big a mystery to me as it is to everyone else.
I hope this provides you with the answers you were seeking.
CherokeeDem
(3,709 posts)When the media leaves and the Highway Patrol leaves, and the FBI are back in Washington with all their evidence, who is going to protect the people who live in Ferguson from their police force?
The police have been humiliated and exposed for the badly run department they are. I fear retaliation is in the wind once no one is looking. I can only hope that a few decent people are on the force who have some influence, but after seeing their behavior, I have my doubts.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Disgusting.
Faux pas
(14,668 posts)Last edited Wed Aug 27, 2014, 05:27 PM - Edit history (1)
do to the Brown family? They need to scrap the whole department and start again.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)and start again.
Faux pas
(14,668 posts)there's gotta be something in between.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)The social worker has the authority, and the bodyguards are just there in case things get ugly.
Faux pas
(14,668 posts)works for me!
juajen
(8,515 posts)Faux pas
(14,668 posts)thanks for getting it.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)AlinPA
(15,071 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)supercats
(429 posts)Every last one of those assholes needs to be fired and jailed for years and years. They don't care about human life unless you are a white racist. They all need to be water boarded and then jailed indefinitely.
BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)Cops are bastards universally here in the states.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)oldandhappy
(6,719 posts)geretogo
(1,281 posts)blacks will be shot but poor whites too . It's coming in this Fascist country .
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)especially if they are doing it to anyone who isn't white.
Time to reboot the whole concept of policing.
City Lights
(25,171 posts)Oh my fucking gawd.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)when the KKK were the police ruling with an iron fist over Black people. These asswipes have NO shame. No dignity. No respect for the black community they're supposed to "protect and serve".
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Well why wouldn't they just ask them to move the flowers. I can't imagine that having flowers in the middle of the street was going to last long. However, request to move them to the sidewalk might have at least been nice.