I Know, Let’s Have A Riot
Missouri seems to be doing just about everything possible to create a riot following a decision by a grand jury. There has been no decision, but the governor has declared a state of emergency, put the National Guard on stand-by, and put any response in the hands of the county, rather than city police officers.
The problem in Ferguson was caused by a police over-response to protests, and now they are preparing to max out the response to any demonstrations following the decision of the grand jury.
What happens if the grand jury indicts the police officer and the KKK protests? Is the Klan going to be subjected to the same tactics that were used in earlier protests?
All of these public announcements about steps that are being taken are just raising the temperature of a volatile situation. You need to prepare for trouble, but you don’t announce your preparations. That’s how you attract the trouble makers.
4 comments
It’s the Republican mentality. “If we make big threats about how tough we’re going to be, nobody is going to dare show their heads.” I found out the danger of *that* one over 15 years ago, first hand, when I saw that escalating a situation led to it escalating well beyond a point where any good outcome was possible. And, alas, a St. Louis mentality… “we don’t have to care about the feelings and desires of a buncha niggers.”
Rule number one of these kinds of situations is to do everything possible to make the community feel that they are being heard and their concerns addressed in a fair manner. You don’t do that with threats and force. But apparently in St. Louis you don’t have to follow the rules if all you’re dealing with is a buncha black people, ’cause they don’t count and their concerns aren’t worthwhile.
Sigh.
It is the basic ‘use of force’ doctrine that was taught in the police academy – the absolute minimum force necessary to control the situation. Raising your voice is considered a use of force. Apparently everything must now be automatically elevated to the ‘nuclear’ level.
They are going to get people hurt and lose control. The people in power have no connection to the affected community or they would arrange peaceful demonstrations.
BTW, you never let a suspect testify to a grand jury – it screws up due process and generates problems with the trial. That is essentially how Poindexter and North got off in Iran-Contra as their Congressional testimony was the equivalent of grand jury testimony and you get into Fifth Amendment problems.
Yes, exactly what I pointed out — a grand jury proceeding is a probable cause hearing, *not* a trial, and it makes no sense at all to have a defendant testify and I had never heard of anything like that before. Just chalk it up to more of the contempt that the St. Louis County power structure has for the black community, that they would so blatantly violate fundamental procedural norms to avoid having their dirty laundry aired at a public trial.
They are working very hard to prevent a trial, but they have to be getting nervous given the amount of time that has passed since the end of the prosecutor’s presentation. Grand jury decisions don’t have to be unanimous.