FBI completes federal probe of Ferguson shooting: AP source

[webfact]

AP source: FBI completes federal probe of Ferguson shooting
By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has completed its investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The Justice Department has not yet announced whether it will file a federal civil rights charge against former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. But officials and experts have said such a prosecution would be unlikely, in part because of the extraordinarily high legal standard federal prosecutors would need to meet.

The official was not authorized to discuss the case by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson declined to comment.

Wilson was cleared in November by a state grand jury in the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown, a shooting that touched off protests in the streets and became part of a national conversation about race relations and police departments that patrol minority neighborhoods. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to calm tensions and meet with Brown's family and law enforcement.

Wilson, who shot Brown after a scuffle in the middle of the street, told the grand jury that reviewed the case that he feared for his life when Brown hit him and reached for his gun. Some witnesses have said Brown had his hands up when Wilson shot him.

To mount a federal prosecution, the Justice Department would need to show that Wilson willfully deprived Brown of his civil rights. That standard, which means prosecutors must prove that an officer knowingly used more force than the law allowed, is challenging for the government to meet. Multiple high-profile police-involved deaths, including the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo in New York City, have not resulted in federal charges.

Wilson, who had been on administrative leave since the shooting, resigned days after the grand jury decision.

A separate, broader Justice Department-led investigation into the practices of the Ferguson police department remains open. That investigation, which will examine potential racial bias among officers, has the potential to have more sweeping consequences than any individual criminal prosecutions, experts say.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Justice Department lawyers were preparing a memo recommending against prosecuting Wilson, but that the memo was not yet complete and that Attorney General Eric Holder — who is expected to leave his position within weeks — had not yet made a decision.

Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for Brown's family, said in a statement that the family would not address speculation from anonymous officials and was waiting for an official Justice Department announcement.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-01-22

[marquisdesade]

Way to go Eric Holder, keep dredging up things that will incite ! why don't these people who are constantly saying these minorities are being marginalized offer to house and feed them in their own homes for a while and see how they really act! Then they would know what an up hill battle it is to police a population who doesn't have morals, and ethics not to mention an education. The black community needs to wake up and start helping themselves, stop waiting for hand outs and work and educate themselves to get ahead. It is possible look at Colin Powell as an example. He came from a very poor family, no one would say he needs government help.

[Ulysses G.]

It was obvious that Officer Wilson was innocent from almost the beginning. Despite Obama and Holder's best efforts to railroad the man, it looks like this charade of "justice" is finally coming to an end.

[ChoakMyDee]

Although Michael Brown was no choir boy, he didn't have to die that day. As soon as Wilson realized they weren't cooperating, he should have backed off and called for back up.

[rethaier]

It was obvious that Officer Wilson was innocent from almost the beginning. Despite Obama and Holder's best efforts to railroad the man, it looks like this charade of "justice" is finally coming to an end.

It is not obvious to me.

[hdkane]

To me, the entire Ferguson case is not about race, despite efforts to frame this unfortunate incident in such terms. The dead teen was a thug, criminal, and blight on his community. No one grieves for his demise, except his family. The empirical, objective evidence indicated that the 300 lb man (not child) attempted to take the weapon from the officer. The police officer panicked and shot him once in self-defense while inside the vehicle. An appropriate response. The injured thug attempted to flee, and the officer then fatally shot him outside the car. Obviously, the officer was excited, panicked, terrified, and ill-trained. The officer should have restrained himself under these most difficult circumstances. His response is entirely understandable, but unacceptable. He should have called for assistance, as well as a medic. The thug could have been followed and subsequently subdued. It's a huge problem in the USA--poorly trained, but highly militarized police. Ironically, in this case, the police officer turned out to be a blight on the community as well.

Not always, but often, Black people in the USA like to believe that all their failings and tragedies are the result of discrimination. In doing so, they absolve themselves of personal and group responsibility.

[NeverSure]

To me, the entire Ferguson case is not about race, despite efforts to frame this unfortunate incident in such terms. The dead teen was a thug, criminal, and blight on his community. No one grieves for his demise, except his family. The empirical, objective evidence indicated that the 300 lb man (not child) attempted to take the weapon from the officer. The police officer panicked and shot him once in self-defense while inside the vehicle. An appropriate response. The injured thug attempted to flee, and the officer then fatally shot him outside the car. Obviously, the officer was excited, panicked, terrified, and ill-trained. The officer should have restrained himself under these most difficult circumstances. His response is entirely understandable, but unacceptable. He should have called for assistance, as well as a medic. The thug could have been followed and subsequently subdued. It's a huge problem in the USA--poorly trained, but highly militarized police. Ironically, in this case, the police officer turned out to be a blight on the community as well.

Not always, but often, Black people in the USA like to believe that all their failings and tragedies are the result of discrimination. In doing so, they absolve themselves of personal and group responsibility.

Right. When the 300 pound criminal was wrestling him for his gun, the officer should have used one of his hands to call for backup.

Even black Holder, despite all of the noise couldn't, in the end, fault the officer.

But you still can.

[Publicus]

Darren Wilson himself has received $1 million in donations from the public yet Wilson has had no personal legal expenses as the police union has paid for all his legal fees and the taxpayer is paying for his lead defense attorney, the DA Robert McCulloch.

Wilson resigned from the Fegruson PD and received no separation pay so I guess he needs the $1 million with more still coming in.

It would appear shooting an unarmed demon incredible hulk who'd been jaywalking pays extraordinarily well.

Wilson felt, in the moment of struggle over the gun, as if he was a five-year-old battling Hulk Hogan, who would theatrically erupt into a berserker’s rage, and become physically unstoppable, in the late minutes of every wrestling match. Wilson described Brown as a “demon” – as an “it” – as a monstrous creature, stomping and huffing, and building up momentum for a final assault, like the Incredible Hulk – all comic-book id and no superego. This is the familiar grammar of racial sight, through which a wallet becomes a gun or a Harvard professor becomes a burglar.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/30/darren-wilson-ferguson-retirement-fear

The Justice Department is continuing in its investigation of the FPD for violations of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. DoJ is in the process of establishing a pattern and practice of racial discrimination by the FPD against many citizens over a period of years, the pattern and practice everyone there has experienced and is documenting for the DoJ.

DoJ has already won such cases in federal courts and is supervising 17 local renegade police departments while investigating a number of others such as the FPD.

While the Ferguson pattern and practice cops are being taken to task by the DoJ, Wilson is leaving them behind to proceed with building his new financial empire. Wilson could hire some KKK guys to set up a private security agency.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Publicus

[chuckd]

About the author of the linked EDITORIAL from The Guardian:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew Pratt Guterl is a professor of Africana Studies and American Studies at Brown University, and the author, most recently, of Seeing Race in Modern America.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nah...no agenda here.

[Ulysses G.]

Darren Wilson himself has received $1 million in donations from the public yet Wilson has had no personal legal expenses as the police union has paid for all his legal fees and the taxpayer is paying for his lead defense attorney, the DA Robert McCulloch.

Good news and as it should be. He defended himself from a violent thug and had his name dragged through the mud afterwards. He deserves financial renumeration and I doubt if Obama, Holder and Al Sharpton are going to to pay up.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Publicus]

Some cynical posts at this point in developments.

The guy's a millionaire, which is more than simple financial renumeration and the money continues to roll in. What are some certain woefully underpaid police in their police ghettos to think?

It also shows the public in general that crime pays.

Then there's the low socio-economic part of black America, as presented by the professor, and beyond that the large American black middle class.

Lotta cynicism in this..

[NeverSure]

-snip-

While the Ferguson pattern and practice cops are being taken to task by the DoJ, Wilson is leaving them behind to proceed with building his new financial empire. Wilson could hire some KKK guys to set up a private security agency.

You really need to stop listening to those space aliens who visit you in the middle of the night.

[NeverSure]

-snip-

It also shows the public in general that crime pays.

Listen, "Dirty Harry", it's the PUBLIC that's sending him the money.

[Publicus]

Way to go Eric Holder, keep dredging up things that will incite ! why don't these people who are constantly saying these minorities are being marginalized offer to house and feed them in their own homes for a while and see how they really act! Then they would know what an up hill battle it is to police a population who doesn't have morals, and ethics not to mention an education. The black community needs to wake up and start helping themselves, stop waiting for hand outs and work and educate themselves to get ahead. It is possible look at Colin Powell as an example. He came from a very poor family, no one would say he needs government help.

The post makes no distinctions whatsoever so it needs to be corrected from its first word to its last word.

The day Michael Brown was shot to death was the day before he was to have entered a 2-year community college for specialized career study in mechanics. Michael Brown had no criminal record at all, zero criminal record. His record remains free of any criminality, Michael Brown never killed anyone during his brief life.

The Department of Justice continues to pursue its prima facie case investigation of the Ferguson PD for its practice and pattern of violations against the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. It is foreseeable that the DoJ will win its coming case in federal court, which means the federal court will place the DoJ in supervision over the Ferguson PD for at least five years.

The three charts come from blackdemographics.com linked below, and are predicated on data from the US Bureau of the Census..

http://blackdemographics.com/households/poverty/2009-public-assistance-chart-2/

[thaibeachlovers]

Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to calm tensions and meet with Brown's family and law enforcement.

What they really mean is to stir up the black population against whites and police officers.

How many white families whose children have been murdered by blacks has Holder visited? That man is a disgrace to his office. No doubt he was really upset when Wilson was cleared by the grand jury, despite his best efforts to bring in a guilty verdict.

[thaibeachlovers]

Way to go Eric Holder, keep dredging up things that will incite ! why don't these people who are constantly saying these minorities are being marginalized offer to house and feed them in their own homes for a while and see how they really act! Then they would know what an up hill battle it is to police a population who doesn't have morals, and ethics not to mention an education. The black community needs to wake up and start helping themselves, stop waiting for hand outs and work and educate themselves to get ahead. It is possible look at Colin Powell as an example. He came from a very poor family, no one would say he needs government help.

The post makes no distinctions whatsoever so it needs to be corrected from its first word to its last word.

The day Michael Brown was shot to death was the day before he was to have entered a 2-year community college for specialized career study in mechanics. Michael Brown had no criminal record at all, zero criminal record. His record remains free of any criminality, Michael Brown never killed anyone during his brief life.

The Department of Justice continues to pursue its prima facie case investigation of the Ferguson PD for its practice and pattern of violations against the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. It is foreseeable that the DoJ will win its coming case in federal court, which means the federal court will place the DoJ in supervision over the Ferguson PD for at least five years.

The three charts come from blackdemographics.com linked below, and are predicated on data from the US Bureau of the Census..

He might have not had a criminal record, but from the VDO in the shop, he was a violent thug. Or, are you going to say the VDO was a fake?

[Publicus]

I have always rejected the right sector doctrine that blacks who are not Republicans are violent thugs, and anyway about 10% of all blacks in the US vote Republican whereas the national Fraternal Order of Police have a strict habit of endorsing the Republican for president (except in 2012)..

It is objectionable to see people dancing on the grave of Michael Brown and a lot of other unarmed blacks to include a 12 year old boy playing alone in a public park and who was shot to death a fraction of a moment after the police car stopped alongside of him.

The rhetoric of the right is inflammatory through and through.

The guy you and I saw in the store video is also the guy I could see entering a 2-year college the next day but you cannot.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Publicus

[thaibeachlovers]

I have always rejected the right sector doctrine that blacks who are not Republicans are violent thugs, and anyway about 10% of all blacks in the US vote Republican whereas the national Fraternal Order of Police have a strict habit of endorsing the Republican for president (except in 2012)..

It is objectionable to see people dancing on the grave of Michael Brown and a lot of other unarmed blacks to include a 12 year old boy playing alone in a public park and who was shot to death a fraction of a moment after the police car stopped alongside of him.

The rhetoric of the right is inflammatory through and through.

You don't address the issue of the VDO that proves Brown was a thug. It's nothing to do with voting Republican.

BTW, if Obama and Holder hadn't inflamed the situation, this would all have vanished from the public arena long ago. Now it has backfired on them big time. Just one more Obama failure.

[Publicus]

I have always rejected the right sector doctrine that blacks who are not Republicans are violent thugs, and anyway about 10% of all blacks in the US vote Republican whereas the national Fraternal Order of Police have a strict habit of endorsing the Republican for president (except in 2012)..

It is objectionable to see people dancing on the grave of Michael Brown and a lot of other unarmed blacks to include a 12 year old boy playing alone in a public park and who was shot to death a fraction of a moment after the police car stopped alongside of him.

The rhetoric of the right is inflammatory through and through.

You don't address the issue of the VDO that proves Brown was a thug. It's nothing to do with voting Republican.

BTW, if Obama and Holder hadn't inflamed the situation, this would all have vanished from the public arena long ago. Now it has backfired on them big time. Just one more Obama failure.

That is a Republican party post.

[Publicus]

Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to calm tensions and meet with Brown's family and law enforcement.

What they really mean is to stir up the black population against whites and police officers.

How many white families whose children have been murdered by blacks has Holder visited? That man is a disgrace to his office. No doubt he was really upset when Wilson was cleared by the grand jury, despite his best efforts to bring in a guilty verdict.

What they really mean is to stir up the black population against whites and police officers.

That is an outrageous statement against the Attorney General of the United States. The statement is completely wrong and it is obviously 100% wrong. It is also obvious the statement is the statement of a far out extremist radical who has no regard of the rule of law and no idea concerning the role of government. The statement comes directly out of someone's posterior.

[Publicus]

-snip-

While the Ferguson pattern and practice cops are being taken to task by the DoJ, Wilson is leaving them behind to proceed with building his new financial empire. Wilson could hire some KKK guys to set up a private security agency.

You really need to stop listening to those space aliens who visit you in the middle of the night.

There is a nightrider and actually several of 'em but they don't exactly 'visit' whether it's day or night....more like kick in the door.

So I blast 'em a few good ones and they scatter in all directions. But alas, they keep coming back so I'm always ready for 'em.

[Ulysses G.]

You don't address the issue of the VDO that proves Brown was a thug. It's nothing to do with voting Republican.

BTW, if Obama and Holder hadn't inflamed the situation, this would all have vanished from the public arena long ago. Now it has backfired on them big time. Just one more Obama failure.

Indeed. That video exposed Michael Brown for exactly what he was.

[NeverSure]

I have always rejected the right sector doctrine that blacks who are not Republicans are violent thugs, and anyway about 10% of all blacks in the US vote Republican whereas the national Fraternal Order of Police have a strict habit of endorsing the Republican for president (except in 2012)..

It is objectionable to see people dancing on the grave of Michael Brown and a lot of other unarmed blacks to include a 12 year old boy playing alone in a public park and who was shot to death a fraction of a moment after the police car stopped alongside of him.

The rhetoric of the right is inflammatory through and through.

You don't address the issue of the VDO that proves Brown was a thug. It's nothing to do with voting Republican.

BTW, if Obama and Holder hadn't inflamed the situation, this would all have vanished from the public arena long ago. Now it has backfired on them big time. Just one more Obama failure.

That is a Republican party post.

We have member named "Republican Party"? (Looks all around.)

[NeverSure]

The guy you and I saw in the store video is also the guy I could see entering a 2-year college the next day but you cannot.

The reason I can't is because he got himself shot by his own behavior. I see him 6 feet under.

Give it up dude. Even Black, liberal, Obama guy Holder had to give it up.

That was a liberal Democrat decision in the case.

We know Holder wanted to nail the cop but he couldn't find a reason. Turn off the mars machine and recognize that the officer was justified.

[chuckd]

<snip>

The guy you and I saw in the store video is also the guy I could see entering a 2-year college the next day but you cannot.

Lest anybody get the impression that Officer Wilson took the life of a potential Rhodes scholar, Michael was allegedly enrolling in Vatterott College to study to become an air conditioning mechanic.

The college has refused to verify whether he was enrolled or not.

[thaibeachlovers]

Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to calm tensions and meet with Brown's family and law enforcement.

What they really mean is to stir up the black population against whites and police officers.

How many white families whose children have been murdered by blacks has Holder visited? That man is a disgrace to his office. No doubt he was really upset when Wilson was cleared by the grand jury, despite his best efforts to bring in a guilty verdict.

What they really mean is to stir up the black population against whites and police officers.

That is an outrageous statement against the Attorney General of the United States. The statement is completely wrong and it is obviously 100% wrong. It is also obvious the statement is the statement of a far out extremist radical who has no regard of the rule of law and no idea concerning the role of government. The statement comes directly out of someone's posterior.

Holder is so bad, I can't understand why you think he's OK. He really is a disgrace to his office. One only has to look at his record to know that.

[chuckd]

Holder is so bad, I can't understand why you think he's OK. He really is a disgrace to his office. One only has to look at his record to know that.

With some people, having that (D) behind his name is all it takes to become a wonderful person and savior of mankind.

His legacy may well be that he is the only Attorney General to have been held in contempt of Congress.

[Publicus]

The guy you and I saw in the store video is also the guy I could see entering a 2-year college the next day but you cannot.

The reason I can't is because he got himself shot by his own behavior. I see him 6 feet under.

Give it up dude. Even Black, liberal, Obama guy Holder had to give it up.

That was a liberal Democrat decision in the case.

We know Holder wanted to nail the cop but he couldn't find a reason. Turn off the mars machine and recognize that the officer was justified.

Give it up dude. Even Black, liberal, Obama guy Holder had to give it up.

The national Fraternal Order of Police keep endorsing Republicans for president and Republicans keep attacking Prez Obama and AG Holder day and night. Republicans criticising Democrats is normal. The hostility toward Barack Obama and Eric Holder is definitely abnormal.

The FBI made its findings which are being respected.

The DoJ pattern and practice discrimination investigation of the Ferguson PD continues to go forward. DoJ has won 17 of the 17 such cases it has brought in the federal courts in other parts of the country. It is predictable the federal district court will place the Ferguson PD under JoJ supervision for at least five years. Get used to it.

Darren Wilson is meanwhile a wealthy man.

[Publicus]

Holder is so bad, I can't understand why you think he's OK. He really is a disgrace to his office. One only has to look at his record to know that.

With some people, having that (D) behind his name is all it takes to become a wonderful person and savior of mankind.

His legacy may well be that he is the only Attorney General to have been held in contempt of Congress.

The tea party Republican controlled House made that vote and it put Eric Holder in good company with the 90% of Americans who have contempt of Congress.

Never has an attorney general had the things said against him that this one has had to endure, AG Eric Holder.

Yes, Eric Holder is the only AG held in contempt by the US House and yes, the vote comes as the US House is controlled by the socially conservative Tea Party Republicans from the extreme far right. They are a dying breed.

[chuckd]

Based on the last election, it would seem the Democrats might be the dying breed.