Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

Warning: common sense, blunt talk, and political incorrectness:



MINDSET OF MICHAEL BROWN “[MEANT] EVERYTHING” IN CONFRONTATION WITH OFFICER WILSON
AUGUST 26, 2014
By Doug Book, editor

Last week, former St. Louis Police Chief Ed Delmore addressed an Open Letter to Captain Ron Johnson, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s choice to “direct all law enforcement operations” in Ferguson after the shooting death of Michael Brown. Chief Delmore revealed that he is not a fan of what another officer described as Capt. Johnson’s “hug a looter” attempts to bring criminals under control by directing St. Louis County Police to “remain uninvolved” on the night “the rioting and looting began again.”

The essence of Delmore’s criticism, however, is directed at Capt. Johnson’s claim that “there was no reason to release” the video of Brown manhandling the comparatively pint-sized owner of the convenience store from which he and a friend had stolen cigars. According to Johnson, “the reported theft and the killing [were] entirely different events.”

But it’s in his response to this “entirely different events” claim that Delmore may have revealed the reason Officer Darren Wilson had to pull the trigger on Brown a short time later.

“The fact that Brown knew he had just committed a robbery before he was stopped by Officer Wilson speaks to Brown’s mindset,” wrote Delmore. “And Captain, the mindset of a person being stopped by a police officer means everything, and you know it.

If Captain Johnson wanted to “get schooled” he came to the right window. For Chief Delmore made it clear that the release of a video is unimportant when compared with the mindset of a criminal who has foolishly confronted a cop just moments after the crime. Johnson was concerned with optics, Delmore with what a frightened and potentially desperate thug might attempt with an unprepared police officer.

Read Chief Delmore’s Open Letter below. It offers far more insight into the shooting of Michael Brown than any self-proclaimed, criminal law/police procedure “expert” in our national media.



“An Open Letter to Captain Ronald S. Johnson”

From a former St. Louis Metro Area police chief

I have to call you out.

I don’t care what the media says. I expect them to get it wrong and they often do. But I expect you as a veteran law enforcement commander—talking about law enforcement—to get it right.

Unfortunately, you blew it. After days of rioting and looting, last Thursday you were given command of all law enforcement operations in Ferguson by Governor Jay Nixon. St. Louis County PD was out, you were in. You played to the cameras, walked with the protestors and promised a kinder, gentler response. You were a media darling. And Thursday night things were better, much better.

But Friday, under significant pressure to do so, the Ferguson Police released the name of the officer involved in the shooting of Michael Brown. At the same time the Ferguson Police Chief released a video showing Brown committing a strong-arm robbery just 10 minutes before he was confronted by Officer Darren Wilson.

Many don’t like the timing of the release of the video. I don’t like that timing either. It should have been released sooner. It should have been released the moment FPD realized that Brown was the suspect.

Captain Johnson, your words during the day on Friday helped to fuel the anger that was still churning just below the surface. St. Louis County Police were told to remain uninvolved and that night the rioting and looting began again. For much too long it went on mostly unchecked. Retired St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch tweeted that your “hug-a-looter” policy had failed.

Boy did it.

And your words contributed to what happened Friday night and on into the wee hours of Saturday. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, you said the following regarding the release of the video: “There was no need to release it,” Johnson said calling the reported theft and the killing entirely different events.

Well Captain, this veteran police officer feels the need to respond. What you said is, in common police vernacular—bullshit. The fact that Brown knew he had just committed a robbery before he was stopped by Officer Wilson speaks to Brown’s mindset. And Captain, the mindset of a person being stopped by a police officer means everything, and you know it.

Let’s consider a few examples:
On February 15, 1978 Pensacola Police Officer David Lee conducted a vehicle check. He didn’t know what the sole occupant of the vehicle had recently done, but the occupant did. Who was he? Serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy attempted to disarm Lee. Lee was able to retain his firearm and eventually took Bundy into custody.

On April 19, 1995 Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hangar stopped a vehicle for minor traffic violations. He didn’t know that 90 minutes earlier the traffic violator, Timothy McVeigh, killed 168 people with a truck bomb at the Murrah Federal Building. But McVeigh sure knew it, didn’t he? Fortunately, given his training and experience Hangar was able to take McVeigh into custody for carrying a concealed firearm. It was days later before it was determined that McVeigh was responsible for the bombing.

On May 31, 2003 then-rookie North Carolina police officer, Jeff Postell, arrested a man digging in a trash bin on a grocery store parking lot—an infraction that would rise to about the level of jaywalking. Postell didn’t know that he had just captured Eric Rudolph, the man whom years earlier had killed and injured numerous people with bombs and was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

So now, let’s consider Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson’s stop of Michael Brown. Apparently Wilson didn’t know that Brown had just committed a strong-arm robbery. But Brown did! And that Captain, is huge.

Allegedly, Brown pushed Wilson and attempted to take Wilson’s gun. We’re also being told that Officer Wilson has facial injuries suffered during the attempt by Brown to disarm him. Let’s assume for a moment those alleged acts by Brown actually occurred. Would Brown have responded violently to an officer confronting him about jaywalking? Maybe, but probably not.

Is it more likely that he would attack an officer believing that he was about to be taken into custody for a felony strong-arm robbery? Absolutely.

Officer Wilson survived the encounter with Brown as did Lee, Hangar, and Postell. Michael Brown didn’t survive and it’s too soon to say if Officer Wilson’s use of deadly force was justified and legal. You and I both know that not all officers survive such confrontations. Officers die in incidents like this Captain Johnson, including a couple that I remember from your own organization:

On April 15, 1985 Missouri Trooper Jimmie Linegar was shot and killed by a white supremacist he and his partner stopped at a checkpoint; neither Trooper Linegar nor his partner were aware that the man they had stopped had just been indicted by a federal grand jury for involvement in a neo-Nazi group accused of murder. The suspect immediately exited the vehicle and opened fire on him with an automatic weapon.

Just a month before, Missouri Trooper James M. Froemsdorf was shot and killed—with his own gun—after making a traffic stop. When the Trooper made that stop he didn’t know that the driver was wanted on four warrants out of Texas—But again the suspect knew it.

So Captain Johnson, I guess the mindset and recently committed crimes of the suspects that murdered those Missouri Troopers didn’t mean anything. The stops by the Troopers, as you have said, are entirely different events right?

Bullshit.
St. Louis Police Chief Ed Delmore, retired

Source: http://www.lawofficer.com/article/lifeline-training/open-letter-captain-ronald-s-j

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

I could be wrong, but I do not believe this writing was a slam at Ferguson Chief Jackson, but a slam at the Highway Patrol Captain.....which, after watching the events unfold throughout the past two weeks, are spot on. Even Privately, his own troopers are not happy with the way the good Captain has handled things.

NeilL Loc: British-born Canadian

As the white house is involved, because of the delegation that attended the thug's funeral, I fear the cop hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting off, even though he was probably acting by the book.

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

He has a chance. Juries sometimes act courageously and intelligently. As in the example where the feds and sleazy state officials threw all kinds of persecution at the self-defense killer of the thug Trayvon Martin.

NeilL Loc: British-born Canadian

As that "delegation" went to Brown's funeral at the direction of Obama, how is POTUS going to explain this one if the cop walks free? No doubt the "delegates" stayed at the best (most expensive) hotels and amassed other expenses on the taxpayers' dime. Using taxpayers' money to support thuggery. That has an impeaching angle to it.

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights has no place in the Arsenal of Hate that is being thrown at that cop. They say they are screaming for "Justice" when it is actually Revenge they are after. I've got some deep concerns for the copper too.....On the State Level I know the Prosecutor for St Louis County is an Honest Ethical Man and will not participate in a railroading of the officer. The Federal Level is another matter all together.

NeilL Loc: British-born Canadian

The Federal level is an unknown. If they try to overturn a State-level verdict for the cop, could the POTUS be charged with perverting the course of justice?

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

If they pursue any prosecution it will be a "Civil Rights Violation" That is their catch all...They still get to send the cop to jail....even if charged and acquitted in State Court. The politicians all want charges in this matter to garner votes.....Jay Nixon, our idiot Governor, announced today that he is appointing Dan Isom, former St Louis City Chief, as a cabinet member in charge of Public Safety...In effect giving him control over the Highway Patrol and the National Guard. Isom was a Chief that got little respect from the people that worked for him and he has shown racist views in the past....He is Black.

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

If they pursue any prosecution it will be a "Civil Rights Violation" That is their catch all...They still get to send the cop to jail....even if charged and acquitted in State Court. The politicians all want charges in this matter to garner votes.....Jay Nixon, our idiot Governor, announced today that he is appointing Dan Isom, former St Louis City Chief, as a cabinet member in charge of Public Safety...In effect giving him control over the Highway Patrol and the National Guard. Isom was a Chief that got little respect from the people that worked for him and he has shown racist views in the past....He is Black.

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

The federal level is not really an unknown. Obama has already interjected an anti-cop and anti-honky element into the unrest. The profoundly racist Atty Gen. Holder mirrors Obama's bigoted and politically-motivated sentiments. You can be sure that if Obama and his cohorts decide that federal prosecution (more accurately "persecution") serves their goals of political advantage and fomenting racial unrest, the feds will act against Officer Wilson. And to hell with justice.

To clarify something: the feds wouldn't "overturn" a state verdict of guilty or decision to not prosecute. The federal action would be a separate legal action accusing officer Wilson of a "civil rights violation" by causing Brown to assume ambient temperature. Onward with double-jeopardy, eh?

notnoBuddha

Sounds as if know the results of any investigations and any possible actions taken, not from any inside information but because you "know" based and what you believe, not because of any insight or evidence. Once more another comment that shows there is no need for a court system in this country. Another argument for mail in jury ballots.

notnoBuddha

You bet -- impeach, that's going to happen.

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

Good video and informative about the reality of officer involved shooting incidents.

Many people are ignorant of firearms and shooting in general. That's how you get idiotic suggestions like "shoot the gun out of his hand" or "just shoot him in the foot." Some people are aggressively ignorant and stupid. I have a friend, an otherwise brilliant person and a criminal and appellate attorney, who is totally ignorant of handguns and the reality of what can and can't be done shooting them. I've suggested he take a beginner class at a local range, to help him get in touch with reality. He absolutely refuses, saying, "There's no way you'll get me to touch a gun." He even refuses to take the classroom part of the class and to merely observe the instruction on the shooting line.