Exclusive: Missouri police plan for possible riots if Brown cop not charged

[ariesgem]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Missouri authorities are drawing up contingency plans and seeking intelligence from U.S. police departments on out-of-state agitators, fearing that fresh riots could erupt if a grand jury does not indict a white officer for killing a black teen.

The plans are being thrashed out in meetings being held two to three times a week, according to people who have attended them. The FBI said it was also involved in the discussions.

Details of the meetings and intelligence sharing by Missouri police agencies and their counterparts in other parts of the country have not been reported before.

The grand jury is expected to decide next month whether to bring criminal charges against police officer Darren Wilson, who shot dead Michael Brown, 18, on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/07/us-usa-missouri-shooting-plans-idUSKCN0HW1TF20141007?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[Rozlee]

1. '9 white and 3 black jurors'?

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, especially in an area where an oppressed minority has reached its breaking point. 'Out-of-state agitators'? Shades of COINTELPRO and agents provocateurs.

[branford]

2. The story is unsurprising.

If the authorities, including local, state and federal, were not making contingency plans, it would be newsworthy and frightening. They are responsible for the safety and security of the residents, and gave no indication that they would interfere with any peaceful protest. The problems in the community are bad enough, and the article seems to be looking to inflame the situation with scary implications.

Also, with 3 black jurors on the grand jury, they are actually racially over-represented on the panel compared to their percentage of the relevant St. Louis population. It also does not require a unanimous vote to indict.

In any event, apart from the implication that all 9 white grand jurors are potential racists, what would be your solution to the "problem" of the racial make-up of the grand jury? Racial quotas? Striking jurors due to race? Elimination of grand juries?

If the grand jury does not vote to indict, and the evidence against the officer is as substantial as we have been lead to believe, it will likely be due to how the prosecutor chose to present the evidence, rather than the fault of the jurors. If that occurs, a federal indictment is all but guaranteed.

[OnyxCollie]

6. St. Louis is 49% black, 44% white.

Ferguson is 67% black.

3 black jurors is NOT racially over-represented.

[noiretextatique]

7. WRONG...black people are underrepresented on that jury

black people are @49% of the population of st. louis. white people are @4 by the justice system to prosecute criminal police.3%. the article isn't inflaming anyone. the tensions already exist because of years of police misconduct, and years of failure to prosecute criminals. in the segregated south, the feds had to step in because the local white authorities would not arrest or prosecute murders of black people. and if they did all-white juries would acquit. nothing much has changed. and the people of Ferguson know that too.

[branford]

9. Your information is incorrect.

St. Louis County is about 24 percent black and about 68 percent white, and that does not account for who might be eligible or willing to serve on the jury (e.g., citizenship, age, felony convictions, responding to summons, etc.)

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-case-racial-and-gender-makeup-of-grand-jury-revealed/


Regardless, my point was that the relevant authorities, including the FBI, should develop contingency plans for public safety. That is their job. It also has nothing to do with whether I believe serious racial problems exist in Ferguson, no less whether an indictment is warranted or will actually be issued (although I believe the grand jury will indict). The implication in the article was that some sort of racial prejudice accounts for such planning, without any supporting evidence.

Additionally, neither you nor OnyxCollie addressed what solution you would impose to fix the purported problem with the racial composition of the jury?

[noiretextatique]

11. i didn't know it was the county

i was referring to the city...sorry. it's not what we would impose...it is why doesn't the legal system operate in the realm of reality? there is a ton of research on race and the legal system, so it is not like people are not aware of it. if mostly white juries do not indict or convict police, and that seems to be the case, then clearly there system is flawed and needs to be fixed.

[branford]

13. Most criminal (and civil) matters are dealt with at the county level

and a "District Attorney" or equivalent is generally a county position. It's confusing because many cities are also their own counties. However, often that is not the case. For instance, in NYC where I live, the City is comprised of five different counties with five different District Attorneys (New York County (Manhattan), Bronx County, Queens County, Kings County (Brooklyn) and Richmond County (Staten Island)). As each county has their own rules and customs (and demographics!), as a practicing trial attorney, I can assure you that it is both confusing and irritating.

There are checks, however, concerning a rogue or racist prosecutor. The State Attorney or equivalent, usually at the behest of the governor, can take over a prosecution. Governor Nixon, a Democratic, has explicitly stated that he intends to rely upon the local prosecutor, also a Democrat, for unexplained reasons. Of course, you also know that the federal government may consider separate federal civil rights charges, regardless of how the state proceeds.

As to altering the racial composition of a grand or trial jury, that is also very difficult. First, many factors other than race affect perceptions, such as profession, gender, age, income, religion, etc.. Second, jury summons are random, but will always generally reflect the racial demographics of the resident county. It is unfortunate fact that the rate of responses to jury summons is below average in poor minority communities, and factors like felon disqualification disproportionately affect young African-American men. Third, discrimination on the basis of race is illegal. Except for a few peremptory challenges (which themselves can be subject to appeal if due to race), neither the prosecution or defense can reject a juror based upon their race. This usually benefits minority defendants.

I would additionally note that federal districts, the pool for federal juries, tend to be much larger and more diverse the state counties (although all federal districts are within one state). If the federal government proceeds against the officer in Ferguson, it statically may provide a jury more amendable to convicting a white police officer.

I nevertheless believe that the state grand jury will indict, and I hope peace prevails in the community.

[Gore1FL]

8. Perhaps going to be 8 and 3 sooner rahter than later...

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/michael-brown-grand-jury-under-review-misconduct-report

[csziggy]

3. They should ask the Sanford police how they handled the riots

After George Zimmerman was acquitted.

Oh - wait - there were NO RIOTS in Sanford.

Better the Missouri authorities should draw up plans for the Ferguson police to stop trying to agitate peaceful protestors.

[RebelOne]

16. There was a race riot in Miami in 1980. I remember it well.

I lived there at the time.

The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida in May 1980 following the acquittal of four Miami-Dade Police officers in the death of Arthur McDuffie (December 3, 1946 – December 21, 1979). McDuffie, an African-American, died from injuries sustained at the hands of four white officers trying to arrest him after a high-speed chase. The officers were tried and acquitted for manslaughter and evidence tampering, among other charges. Subsequently, one of the worst race riots in United States history broke out in the black neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City in Miami. In 1981 Dade County paid McDuffie's family a settlement of $1.1 million after they filed a civil lawsuit against the officials.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Miami_riots

[Man from Pickens]

4. Riots will be the least of their problems

Rioters are in their faces and don't make any effort to engage in strategy.

It's the folks whose takeaway from this is that the law ain't worth a damn, and that they should take matters into their own hands, who will be the real problem for the power structure. I can easily think of quite a few very effective tactics which could shred any semblance of normal life for the powers that be - and if I can think of them, people with a particular axe to grind will surely think of them and more.

[Iamthetruth]

14. And those people

Who effect the lives of other innocent people should be felt with extreme force.

[strawberries]

5. there is no way

and I mean no way Wilson can just walk from this. We all saw it on multiple videos. No way there is just no flippen way that guy walks without a trial

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Sometimes, it takes a riot. n/t

[snooper2]

22. it takes a riot to raise a neighborhood?

or-

it takes a riot to raze a neighborhood?

[JoeyT]

12. Oh those darned out of state agitators.

Same bullshit line they tried during the civil rights marches, for pretty much the same reason.

To quote Letter from Birmingham Jail

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Bingo! Bull Connor would be so proud! n/t

[Blue_Tires]

30. For what it's worth:

Last edited Thu Oct 9, 2014, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)

a handful of professional "shit-stirrers" did try to steal the spotlight and escalate things into a full-scale battle, but they were pretty obvious and ultimately unsuccessful since so many people in the crowd were live-tweeting their idiot antics and making a point to say they were renegade outsiders...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/19/agitators-have-hijacked-ferguson-protests.html

Still, nothing warrants the state trying to make the city look like a scene from Battlefield 4....

[kelliekat44]

17. They probably need to prepare for more than a riot. Sooner or later people are going to get tired

of cops killing unarmed, innocent people. I just waiting for the "stand your ground" law to be used by some young black who claims to feel that his life was in danger during a traffic stop.

[davidpdx]

18. My guess is they are going to air on the side of caution and indict him

He's going to have a huge defense fund and plenty of help to mount a defense. In the end he'll be acquitted. I hope I'm wrong on the last part.

[XemaSab]

19. Do you want your riots now or later?

[davidpdx]

21. I'd rather not have riots

Last edited Wed Oct 8, 2014, 06:26 PM - Edit history (1)

But I don't believe he's going to be he'd accountable for what he did. I'm skeptical. I think all of us should be given how often shootings like this go without punishment.

[amandabeech]

25. We may not have heard of all the evidence that has been or will be submitted to the grand jury.

There may be videos and testimony that are not known to the media. People who have videos or are witnesses are often strongly urged not to talk to the media. Some people may not want to talk to the media, and who can blame them. Remember the witness who saw the end of the Zimmerman/Martin fight from his condo? There was a brief mention of the existence of such a witness, but neither he nor his testimony was in the news, and it certainly wasn't discussed much here on DU. His testimony was a major factor in the acquittal. Are there witnesses like that out there in this case? Who knows?

Also, the grand jury has heard from Wilson. There was a little blurb in the St. Louis paper about it, but it hasn't been widely reported. Wilson has few friends here, but his testimony, particularly with regard to the alleged altercation at or in the vehicle, may be important in the grand jury's decision. We won't know what he said until the grand jury's decision is announced, and the prosecutor releases all the evidence, which is unusual, but has been promised here.

[Delphinus]

20. This should be a nation-wide uprising -

what happened with the death of Michael Brown was horrible. The policeman and that entire department need to be held accountable. The possibility that the officer involved is not charged is truly inconceivable for me.

[PorridgeGun]

23. Too many people are jumping to one side of this issue before the facts are in.

What are you going to do if the evidence shows MB assaulted the cop?

If the pictures and prints support Wilsons story that Mike Brown assaulted the officer while he was still in the car (presumably on the presumption that the convenience store clerk incident had just caught up with him) he cannot and should not be indicted. He would be correct under those circumstances to assume that whatever MB did after that, he constituted a deadly threat to anyone and everyone within striking distance.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

29. Give me a break.

[True Blue Door]

24. I would advise the people of Ferguson to prepare a local referendum

to disband their police department and form a new organization along different lines, with different employees.

That would be far more effective than any sort of symbolic resistance.

[Blue_Tires]

26. I guess the authorities are planning on St.L looking like 1968 Warsaw

Maybe they can do a twofer and arrange for the grand jury to not charge on the same day as the Cardinal's victory parade

[branford]

27. Or maybe it will be like the 1967 Detroit race riots.

That sure worked-out well for African-Americans in Detroit . . .

Peaceful protest is, of course, appropriate and will hopefully raise the profile of racial disparities. However, not only would violence and destruction result in damage to minority home and businesses (blacks comprise about 67% of Ferguson and 48% of the City of St. Louis), with little hope for subsequent economic assistance from the state or federal government, but it would justify many who are instinctively supportive of the police or hold racist perceptions.

It's easy to support destruction as an anonymous poster, rather than someone from the actual community who will be left behind when the news and general public focus on the next shiny story.

Nevertheless, if the evidence consists of what we have been lead to believe (and that is no certainty), I believe that a indictment will be issued. I'm less certain of a conviction in either state or federal court.

[tabasco]

28. I can see the Fox "News" headlines already