DoJ non-indictment of Ferguson officer Wilson would be in line with tradition – lawyer
The Justice Department has begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges be filed against Darren Wilson after he shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August, the New York Times reported.
Regarding potential civil rights charges against Wilson, the investigation by the FBI is said to be complete and no evidence was found to support, officials told the NYT, which first broke the story. Prosecutors would have to prove that Wilson vicivolated Brown’s right “to be free of unreasonable seizure of his person,” that Wilson intended to violate Brown’s right when he opened fire and he had done so willfully – essentially, that he knew it was wrong to fire but did so anyway. Federal investigators had signaled for months that they were unlikely to file charges.
President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address only briefly mentioned efforts to combat police brutality, but while he called for reform of the criminal justice system, many advocates for change criticized the brevity of his remarks.
Despite months of massive civil protests over the failures of the justice system to indict police officers for the deaths of African Americans Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City, scant mention was made on the issue until the end of President Obama’s speech.
Referring to the controversial deaths as “the events of Ferguson and New York,” President Obama asked people to see both sides of the issue.
Darren Wilson grand juror sues prosecutor over right to speak
A federal judge ordered St. Louis-area police to grant warnings before firing tear gas in order to give crowds “reasonable” time to disperse, following a lawsuit over wanton use of tear gas by militarized police during race-related protests in Ferguson.
US District Judge Carol Jackson ruled after hearing arguments in a lawsuit against local and state law enforcement officials that stemmed from police action in Ferguson, a suburb in St. Louis County, and in areas of St. Louis city on November 24, following a grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a former Ferguson police officer who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August.
The fatal shooting triggered months of protests and civil unrest, both locally and nationwide, over the case and, in general, racial profiling, police brutality, and race- and class-based inequality within the American legal system.
More NBA players, including Kobe Bryant, joined in on national demonstrations against racial profiling and police violence on Tuesday, as protests for the fourth consecutive night in California’s Bay Area led to another brief freeway shutdown.
Bryant, of the Los Angeles Lakers, and other players wore shirts during pregame warm-ups on Tuesday that read “I CAN’T BREATHE,” a reference to the final words of Eric Garner, a black man killed by a New York City police in July by way of a chokehold. A Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict white officer Daniel Pantaleo in the killing despite a clear video of the incident.
On Monday night, as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NBA players from the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Brooklyn Nets, including Lebron James and Kevin Garnett, donned “I can’t breathe” t-shirts before their game.
Ferguson Protests Are About FAR More Than Mike Brown
Redacted Tonight with LEE CAMP airs every Friday at 8pm EST on RT America and every episode can also be found on www.YouTube.com/RedactedTonight.
Did Ferguson prosecutor botch Darren Wilson's indictment?