Unarmed black Missouri teen killed by police was shot six times: New York Times

[Ulysses G.]

The police have been equipped with military style armor, automatic weapons, and training...not to be used against an external threat...but to be used against US citizens...

Many gangbangers are better armed than they are and the National Guard has often been used against rioters for many decades. There is nothing new here.

[arjunadawn]

Contradicting prior witness reports that he was shot in the back. Shouldn't that be mentioned? It's an important point because if they didn't get that right doubt is cast on other aspects too.

Also on "teenager" Michael Brown...

"referred to him as a "gentle giant" (he was 6'4" tall and weighed 292 lbs at the time of his death.)."

Too much media spin on this.

The "Gentle Giant" in action.

Without question the USA is turning into a dreadful police state. The Stasi would be proud. However, there are places and people in the USA which are far more dangerous then many awful places in the Middle East. In many of these places racism and entitlement exist in an echo chamber, daily reinforcing victim mentality, and survival of the fittest. Non existent local economies and majority government handouts create a community death spiral. Enter law enforcement with the awareness that they are in de facto combat zones and that respect for other's lives is quite low in some places, and trigger sensitive cops are not a surprise.

Yes, we don't know what happened but most of us know the types: scary, dangerous, indifferent, provocative, uneducated, and resourceful.

[daoyai]

I hope the takeaway lesson from this is that if a cop tells you not to walk in the road, you get on the footpath quickly.

[Ulysses G.]

And if a cop tells you 5 times to get out of a McDonald's in the middle of a riot zone, just DO IT.

[CMNightRider]

I hope the takeaway lesson from this is that if a cop tells you not to walk in the road, you get on the footpath quickly.

That would be the intelligent response to a lawful order but not the lesson to be learned here. I believe the lesson is do not ever, for any reason, attack a police officer. Anyone who believes this police officer shot Brown multiple times while Brown had his hands in the air, is suffering from delusions, under the influence of psychotropic medication, or is very naive.

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been deleted. There are a number of off-topic posts about the general state of the police in the US. The topic is about the shooting of an unarmed person, please keep your discussion focused on the topic. Commentary should be related to the OP.

[HerbalEd]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

"THE" head shot? There were three head shots. And how would you ... or anyone else ... know "the head shot was the last shot. I pray you are never on a jury.

[muffy]

You shoot until they stop .

[F430murci]

Has anyone seen this video? Eyewitness video just surfaced today I believe, and people are overheard recounting the scene immediately after it happened...and not in the favor of the teen at all.

Sorry it's on breitbarts site....

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/17/He-Kept-Coming-Toward-Him-Video-in-Aftermath-of-Michael-Brown-Shooting-Describes-the-Incident

Whoa, definitely not a lot of intelligence heard on those videos and not many potential candidates capable of passing police entrance exams.

Sounds like dead dude got pissed and went back to take care of business. Perhaps adrenal dropping and pain set in from arm shot while in or near cruiser.

The clothes need to be tested for powder residue which will be seperate from autopsy.

Isn't 18 inches for powder residue. How long is a 6'4" dudes arms in general. If swinging, assuming hypothetically, what distance are we talking? Witness accounts said arm wrestling which could be consistent with grappling that occurs when each are trying to stop punches.

Did bug dude double back and charge cop like someone said in video?

Definitely can rule out corn roll, tartooed homeboy friend saying he was shot in back trying to run away. Large pieces of his story never made sense.

What does make sense is big arse bruiser hit cop in face in or near cruiser, they struggled or grappled to stop punches, cop shot and hit in arm or lower collar bone region, big dude took off, apparently got pissed about being shot or something, doubled back toward the cop and the cop began emptying clip to drop him.

Execution style would have been the last five shots into the back before dude could turn around.

[HerbalEd]

It's amazing how many CSI experts there are here who are so sure they know the answer .... when indeed they do not. Most of the commenters I'm reading here are cherry picking the iffy journalistic evidence to "prove" their desired, foregone conclusions.

[zydeco]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

"THE" head shot? There were three head shots. And how would you ... or anyone else ... know "the head shot was the last shot. I pray you are never on a jury.

Perhaps you should read the report from the NYTimes. The conclusion that the top head shot was "likely" the last shot was that of the ME doing the family sponsored autopsy.

[HerbalEd]

You shoot until they stop .

Not at all. If indeed the guy is unarmed, a well trained, professional police officer might need to hit the purp with one or two shots, but definitely not six ... with three to the head. Not saying the cop was not justified in firing ... although I don't know, nor do you or anyone else here ... but it looks like the cop went way to far with way to many bullets to the body and head.

[zydeco]

You shoot until they stop .

Not at all. If indeed the guy is unarmed, a well trained, professional police officer might need to hit the purp with one or two shots, but definitely not six ... with three to the head. Not saying the cop was not justified in firing ... although I don't know, nor do you or anyone else here ... but it looks like the cop went way to far with way to many bullets to the body and head.

Why do you keep saying three? Honest question, I mean. Do you have another source? The OP states this:

An unarmed black teenager who was killed by a white police officer in Missouri was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy has found. The New York Times reported (http://nyti.ms/1mZThz0 ) that the autopsy by Dr Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, found that one of the bullets entered the top of Michael Brown's skull, suggesting that his head was bent forward when he suffered a fatal injury.

Baden said it was likely the last of bullets to hit Brown, 18, whose death has spurred a week of violent protests in Ferguson, in suburban St Louis.

[F430murci]

You shoot until they stop .

Not at all. If indeed the guy is unarmed, a well trained, professional police officer might need to hit the purp with one or two shots, but definitely not six ... with three to the head. Not saying the cop was not justified in firing ... although I don't know, nor do you or anyone else here ... but it looks like the cop went way to far with way to many bullets to the body and head.

Not if he kept coming at you after already hitting you once. Only the head shots would have brought that big boy down. The others may have pissed him off if adrenal was pumping.

Cop was in panicking shooting mode. Execution mode would have been all shots to the back as dude was fleeing.

[zydeco]

You shoot until they stop .

Not at all. If indeed the guy is unarmed, a well trained, professional police officer might need to hit the purp with one or two shots, but definitely not six ... with three to the head. Not saying the cop was not justified in firing ... although I don't know, nor do you or anyone else here ... but it looks like the cop went way to far with way to many bullets to the body and head.

Not if he kept coming at you after already hitting you once. Only the head shots would have brought that big boy down. The others may have pissed him off if adrenal was pumping.

Cop was in panicking shooting mode. Execution mode would have been all shots to the back as dude was fleeing.

I don't know much about police training, but I did find this: http://www.shootingillustrated.com/index.php/17234/failure-drill/

[Ulysses G.]

You shoot until they stop .

Not at all. If indeed the guy is unarmed, a well trained, professional police officer might need to hit the purp with one or two shots, but definitely not six

Micheal Brown was 6 foot 4 inches and weighed 300 pounds. He was allegedly rushing towards the officer. Anyone with common sense would have kept shooting until he stopped moving.

[timber]

The video showed that he wasn't all that gentle. He deserved to be arrested, but in to many cases in the States the Police shot to kill not to apprehend. Unarmed and shot six times in the front?

[Mrjlh]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

"THE" head shot? There were three head shots. And how would you ... or anyone else ... know "the head shot was the last shot. I pray you are never on a jury.

This is how untrue details get started and stories get spun out of whack. Next time you post will it be FOUR head shots? and not THREE? For your information it was only TWO...count them one...two. Not that it really matters in the end but at least keep the facts straight.

And still another case of bad reporting. They left out the fact all shots was from the front and not in the back as many here kept stating. Also the shot in the car, the police have not yet stated the details in which direction the round went or have I maybe missed it.

[rotary]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

OR the officer was attempting a headshot as the victim was turning with hands raiswd, rapid fire .... maybe spelled E-X-E-C-U-T-I-O-N. (?)

Gosh you could be right but just for the record is this the same guy who robbed the store 15 minutes before this event happened? Poor little passive good citizen Michael.

[3NUMBAS]

shots are shown here

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/17/justice-department-autopsy-brown-ferguson/14196559/

he was a big mean mofo to stop

[Arkady]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

Either that or perhaps he was starting to keel over from the result of the other gunshot wounds. It's a horrible story and most of the key information is still being withheld, so we can only speculate, as every one over there is doing. The family's pathologist's finding that the shots weren't from very close range is rather critical but only tentative because he was not permitted to examine the deceased clothing for powder residue. What a mess and seeing the police parading nightly with war surplus gear from Afghanistan and Iraq and letting off crates of teargas canisters makes one wonder which is the 3rd world military dictatorship here.

[ggt]

Excerpt taken from: International Man Communiqué

Under the National Defense Authorization Act, passed in 2011, the US was declared a “battlefield,” a legal term that allows a government to suspend habeas corpus and to authorise any authorities to act toward the people of the country as “enemy combatants,” should they suspect for any reason that this might be so.

[3NUMBAS]

So much for having his arms and hands in the air when he was shot. Just try holding up your arm with four bullet wounds in it. And the head shot being the last shot fits in with the story from witnesses that Brown was bum rushing the policemen when the policeman fired on him. It's spelled E-X-O-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

the cop would have shot dead centre in the head or torso not all down the right arm as the pics show so he was in a struggle with the cop and that s all he could aim for

[doctorproc156]

Shooting an un armed person 6 times at a distance of 35 feet is nothing but an execution

[NanLaew]

Shooting an un armed person 6 times at a distance of 35 feet is nothing but an execution

The officer dropped a charging bull.

The latest news from the family-sponsored autopsy (that the parents also chose to omit from general release) was their 'gentle giant' son was high on marijuana.

So, the officer dropped a charging bull that just happened to be high on drugs. The 'Swisher Sweets' cigarillos he strong-armed from the convenience store earlier are used to make 'blunts' which is the preferred method for getting high for African-American's of a certain demographic.

So stop being melodramatic. You can't execute buffalo. Even the stoned ones.

[3NUMBAS]

the CCTV footage is like something out of a spiderman movie ,but no spidey to pop the thug

[doctorproc156]

Shooting an un armed person 6 times at a distance of 35 feet is nothing but an execution

The officer dropped a charging bull.

The latest news from the family-sponsored autopsy (that the parents also chose to omit from general release) was their 'gentle giant' son was high on marijuana.

So, the officer dropped a charging bull that just happened to be high on drugs. The 'Swisher Sweets' cigarillos he strong-armed from the convenience store earlier are used to make 'blunts' which is the preferred method for getting high for African-American's of a certain demographic.

So stop being melodramatic. You can't execute buffalo. Even the stoned ones.

Being high on marijuana has nothing to do with this and I have no idea why you needed to include the preferred way african americans consume marijuana, because I know plenty of white people who smoke marijuana as blunts as well, really shows a prejudice on your part. I don't care if he's a criminal, you still do not execute people at a distance of 35 feet, if he was really charging at the officer (obviously something that is backed up by 0 evidence and you just pulled out of your ass) then the officer could have shot him at a much closer range. He should have been arrested and thrown in jail to be rehabilitated, not executed like a dog on the street.

[metisdead]

A post using all caps has been removed. Other inflammatory nonsense and conspiracies have been removed.

[Johpa]

There is ample evidence that America has become a police state...the police no longer are there to protect the citizen...but are used to subdue protests and carry out unwarranted search and seizure...no need for probable cause...no warrant needed...and the police protect their own...covering their dastardly deeds with lies of civilian wrongdoing...

American citizens are reluctant to involve the police in any situation these days...afraid of the zeal of the police force and swat teams creating more carnage and destruction...

The police have been equipped with military style armor, automatic weapons, and training...not to be used against an external threat...but to be used against US citizens...

The US gov't makes me so proud to be an American...NOT..

You got some of it right by my thinking. The US has become a surveillance state, not yet a police state. There are some neighborhoods where criminal gangs are prevalent and in such neighborhoods, often black and immigrant neighborhoods, police presence is indeed increased, often to the delight of the majority of the residents. There is a militarization of the SWAT teams and an associated loss of 4th Amendment rights relating to unwarranted search and seizure during SWAT raids. But to simply blame the cops is naive as most cops are pretty decent people. It is the judiciary, the same people who have declared that corporations are people, that has enabled this degradation of our constitutional rights. Well it is actually the corporate elite that has taken over the judiciary ever since their barrel boy, Justice Powell, wrote his clarion call to battle the evil forces of the people back in 1971. But back to the subject at hand, there are a number of good books on the militarization of the local police forces in the US, with Radley Balko's Rise of the Warrior Cop as one of the more enlightening books on the subject.

[NanLaew]

Shooting an un armed person 6 times at a distance of 35 feet is nothing but an execution

The officer dropped a charging bull.

The latest news from the family-sponsored autopsy (that the parents also chose to omit from general release) was their 'gentle giant' son was high on marijuana.

So, the officer dropped a charging bull that just happened to be high on drugs. The 'Swisher Sweets' cigarillos he strong-armed from the convenience store earlier are used to make 'blunts' which is the preferred method for getting high for African-American's of a certain demographic.

So stop being melodramatic. You can't execute buffalo. Even the stoned ones.

Being high on marijuana has nothing to do with this and I have no idea why you needed to include the preferred way african americans consume marijuana, because I know plenty of white people who smoke marijuana as blunts as well, really shows a prejudice on your part. I don't care if he's a criminal, you still do not execute people at a distance of 35 feet, if he was really charging at the officer (obviously something that is backed up by 0 evidence and you just pulled out of your ass) then the officer could have shot him at a much closer range. He should have been arrested and thrown in jail to be rehabilitated, not executed like a dog on the street.

You are right. There's a whole lot of white folks that make blunts too. You seem to know plenty of them. I don't know any of either race. But I digress. Non-black marijuana smokers generally don't steal their tobacco products from the convenience store, even the convenience stores in predominantly white, hispanic, asian, [enter ethnicity of choice] ghettos.

But if you had read AND UNDERSTOOD my comment, I said it was the "preferred method for getting high for African-American's of a certain demographic." You chose to point out there's white crackers out there, not me. OK, that's my politically correct preamble over and done with.

I mentioned it because the "victim" at the center of this "tragedy" was black and the whole story is about a black "kid" with a world of unfulfilled life opportunities in a black neighborhood being "executed" by a white cop. Have I got that right?

I have pulled absolutely NOTHING out of my ass regarding what may have happened but maybe I choose to read a wider selection of opinion before making my post. Up until now, everyone is making the 'kid' as some sort of martyr for their self-inflicted life choices.

If you know anything about US incarceration and the percentage of black offenders AND RE-OFFENDERS, you wouldn't be offering stupid advice such as, "He should have been arrested and thrown in jail to be rehabilitated..."