Twenty-eight-year-old Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson probably realizes by now that the charges against him will go far beyond manslaughter (probably) and or violating Michael Brown’s civil rights.
In the court of public opinion, particularly the opinion of people who are members of racial minorities, Wilson has become the poster boy for police abuse of unarmed poor people past and present.
Among other violations, Wilson can expect to pay the price for:
** U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder being stopped by Washington D.C. police while running to a movie theater in the affluent D.C. suburb of Georgetown when Holder was a young federal prosecutor.
** The death in 2011 of 31-year-old Ferguson resident Jason Moore, a mentally ill person whom a Ferguson officer literally Tasered to death after causing a disturbance and then refusing to obey the officer’s order to stay on the ground. (In his police report, the officer repeatedly referred to Moore as “Jason,” because he was known to the department as a troubled and sick person.)
** A 2009 Ferguson case in which a man said that four police officers beat him and then charged him with damaging government property — by getting blood on their uniforms.
Eric Garner, being taken down by New York City police
** The death in New York last month of 43-year-old Eric Garner, who died after a police officer put him in a long-prohibited “chokehold.” Garner had been stopped on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes on the street. A Staten Island grand jury will consider the Garner case.
** A Kansas City police officer’s recent Facebook posting of a photograph of a young man, purportedly Michael Brown, with a wad of money in his mouth and a gun in his hand. “I’m sure young Michael Brown is innocent and just misunderstood. I’m sure he is a pillar of the Ferguson community,” Officer Marc Catron sarcastically commented in the post with the photograph. Turns out, however, the photo was not that of Brown but of a murder suspect in Oregon.
Louima
** The broken-broomstick sodomizing in 1997 of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, who suffered massive internal injuries at the hands of one or more New York City police officers after he was arrested for being involved in a nightclub scuffle in which Officer Justin A. Volpe got punched. Volpe took the lead in the nightmarish sodomizing, and it turned out Louima wasn’t even the guy who punched him. Volpe is serving a 30-year prison term, and another officer served five years for perjury, but three others got off without convictions.
Yes, Darren Wilson, through fault of his own, now finds himself carrying the cross of police abuse across the nation. This is one of those moments where an accumulation of individual moments, over a long period, culminates in a seminal moment.
Regardless of whether Michael Brown “bullrushed” Officer Wilson, when Wilson has his day in court he will come carrying a load that goes far beyond whatever happened at (and after) 12:01 p.m. on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, MO.
This promises to be a turning point in law enforcement practices and attitudes, and we can only hope that the seismic shift is felt from the largest urban areas to the most podunk of American towns.
“Community policing” should never be the same.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Police training is quite detailed on any type of altercation. His Police Academy training will be used against him in any trial. He was taught to use “necessary/appropriate” force in many circumstances and did not follow that guideline.
JIMMY…
THERE IS AN ARTICLE IN TODAY’S KANSAS CITY STAR, YOUR ALMA MATER, TITLED, “I’M A COP…IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET HURT, DON’T CHALLENGE ME”. SHORT READ, GOOD INFORMATION; POSSIBLE A MANTRA FOR YOU.
REGARDS,
FREDDIE
I read it, Fred…Very informative.
Fitz linked to that in his last column, Mr. Wallace.
I disagree. The cop has a busted eye socket given to him by Mr. Brown, his companion has now been charged with theft and filing a false police report and has reportedly admitted that they were, in fact involved in an altercation with the officer.
Given the lawlessness of the DOJ under Holder, you may be right about federal charges, but under current statutes in Missouri and/or Kansas the cop had reason to fear for his life and hence was able to use his weapon to defend himself. I’m betting no local charges.
@ John…+1 ∞
@ Jim…a little presumptuous. I guess it is now guilty until proven innocent.
There’s a point there. Nixon is really taking it in the shorts for talking about prosecuting the cop before any decision has been made, or all the information is even in. Not bright on his part. try getting LE support in your future campaigns, Governor.
Mr. Altevogt says the officer received a broken eye socket from Michael Brown. Do you have the medical report? Do any of the right-wing media outlets where you obviously got this information from have the medical report? I’ve been out of the journalism profession for awhile now but I do remember not being able to report as fact something coming only from a friend of the person in question. Correct me if I’m wrong, Fitz, but you typically need to verify that info through one, two or even three additional sources. That’s a facet of journalism that cable news shows don’t seem to understand.
It was reported by the Washington Post, admittedly a questionable source, but CNN a cable news network is now reporting that that is incorrect.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/08/21/darren_wilson_eye_socket_not_broken_by_michael_brown_cnn_says.html
Jim and Others,
There are so many things unknown.
We need the truth…but there is no way of making this a political issue. We are a little over two months from Mid-terms. So each side will use this (some not giving a damn about the truth) for votes.
Likely on the deceased and the cop know why this escalated to death…criminal use of police force or a cop defending his life. We were asked to wait for assess blame. @Mike Rice, you are right. all media should verify circumstances in journalism with as many sources as possible. If that cannot be done, do write or broadcast. That is part of how we win Pulitzer Prizes
I spent my Wednesdays riding with the Kansas City Police and knocking some dramatic things out at the “Cop Shop.”
The Post-Dispatch has really “outdone” itself with their coverage. The art is sickening. “Pouring fuel on the fire.”
There is a cable news outlet that just tells the news One America News (OAN). When they are running a piece with an opinion they notify the viewers. Otherwise they just do a great job reporting the news.