hey prez, Ferguson area schoolteachers are in Al Jazeera this afternoon, it's a good article check it out:
As students living in St. Louis County return to their studies in a new school year, education officials in the area have proposed radically different ways to talk to children about the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager shot dead by a police officer in the St. Louis suburb.
“We just returned from the funeral for Michael … we wanted to get (students) back into a normal routine and help them feel like they were in a safe and caring environment,” Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of public K-12 schools in Jennings – a town just 4 miles from Ferguson – told Al Jazeera on Monday. “We have mental health counseling available at all sites … and various staff members have received mental health training to assist in addressing issues.”
Brown was killed in Ferguson on Aug. 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, sparking ongoing protests that have lasted for weeks. Because of the sometimes violent demonstrations in the streets between police and demonstrators, the first day of school for some Ferguson-area students was postponed for more than a week.
But now that the new school year has begun, Anderson said her main goal was to make sure that the students feel safe and welcome.
Edwardsville School District, about 25 miles from Ferguson, has reportedly adopted a different approach. Principals told educators in the district’s middle and high schools to “change the subject and refocus the students” if Ferguson comes up, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported last week.
Some parents have disagreed with that policy, saying that their children have watched the situation unfold on television and that teachers should grasp such teachable moments, the newspaper reported. But the schools’ administrators said they were worried about teachers possibly inserting their own opinions into discussions about Brown, and that is why the topic was banned.
Anderson said her school will actively address the issue with a peaceful, justice-based curriculum aimed to help students build up their own communities.
“Teachers are integrating lessons on equity and justice in classrooms and they are facilitating discussions on the topic to allow students the opportunity to express themselves and their opinions,” Anderson said. “We are promoting peace projects to highlight ways students can peacefully express themselves and build a stronger community.”
A voter registration booth will be set up at one of the high schools soon, and African-American leaders will be visiting with students to talk about nonviolence, Anderson said. Ivy League-educated actor Hill Harper visited with students in Jennings today, she added.
On Monday night several Jennings high school students were set to speak on PBS about equality and justice issues raised by Brown’s killing, Anderson said, adding that making the students feel free to discuss their thoughts and making sure their voices are heard are crucial.
Ferguson update prez via CBS St Louis 2hrs ago:
Relatives of 18-year-old Michael Brown called on those attending his funeral to push for change and help end “the senseless killings.”
Thousands of people turned out Monday to honor Brown, who was fatally shot on Aug. 9 by a police officer in Ferguson.
The funeral at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis began with upbeat music punctuated by clapping and even some dancing. Relatives recalled Brown as a gentle soul with a deep and growing faith in Christianity.
His cousin, Eric Davis, urged those in attendance to go to the polls and push for change. He told the crowd: “We have had enough of the senseless killings.”
Brown’s uncle, Bernard Ewing, recalled Brown as a “big guy, but a kind, gentle soul.”
prez, i heard Trayvon Martin's parents are speaking today at a peace rally with Mike Brown's parents and that some of your people went to Ferguson too prez, check this out though,
Ferguson is going to be on an MTV Public Service Announcement (Mike and Trayvon would have liked this):
MTV will use the occasion of its Video Music Awards on Sunday night to highlight the ongoing civil rights struggles in Ferguson, Missouri. During a commercial break in the broadcast, the network will be airing a public service announcement reflecting on the protests that have erupted following the police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown earlier this month.
cont..
The spot features a quote from writer James Baldwin unspooling against chants of "Hands up, don't shoot," a slogan that has arisen from the protests in the St. Louis suburb.
cont..
As the Washington Post reports, both 15-second spots are part of a larger campaign called Look Different that MTV developed with organizations including the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
"Eighty percent of our audience believes that bias is at the root of racism and prejudice," MTV President Stephen Friedman told the Post. "But when cultural explosions like Trayvon Martin, or the recent death on Staten Island, or what is now happening in Ferguson occur, our audience often feels paralyzed to discuss the issues."
The events in Ferguson have already prompted a number of high-profile musicians, including T.I., Lauryn Hill, Sky Ferreira, Cat Power, Billy Bragg and Killer Mike, to publicly share their reactions or take stands in support of the protestors.
also prez, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka
weighed in on Ferguson last week:
Mayor Ras Baraka today called tactics by police in Ferguson, Mo., following the death of an unarmed black teenager at the hands of an officer an example of "best practices for what not to do" to combat civilian unrest.
Images of heavily armored officers in the St. Louis suburb employing tear gas, rubber bullets and other riot gear to disperse crowds upset by the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown have dominated the news cycle as of late, sparking debate over the shooting and police attitudes toward the black community.
Baraka, who built his reputation as a community activist prior to becoming mayor, called both the shooting and its aftermath "unfortunate."
"It's just unfortunate that we're still here in 2014, and .... unarmed African-American males are still being killed by police officers in the street," the Newark mayor said.
The escalation of the situation in Ferguson has parallels to issues in Newark, where long-standing mistrust of law enforcement was validated last month when the U.S. Department of Justice released a report detailing a number of failings by the city police department, including the improper targeting of its black population for stops and arrests.
Baraka said he referenced the unrest in addressing hundreds of members of the force at Rutgers University last week, saying it could serve as a teachable moment as it attempts to repair its relationship with the community.
"I told them what was happening in Missouri is best practices for what not to do. It also speaks volumes for why we need better community and police relations, and people need to understand that we're here to serve the community, and not here to occupy the community," he said.
Officials are still working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to craft the terms of a consent decree that will require the police department to enact a number of reforms, including the addition of civilian oversight measures and training procedures to ensure residents' civil rights are not violated.
The policy changes, Baraka said, are all part of a much more seismic shift in attitudes that must take place if the city is to rid itself of the kind of tensions that can escalate to full-blown unrest.
"I don't care how many police officers we reprimand or suspend or fire, or even arrest, which doesn't happen often," he said. "We have to change the culture of the way police officers think about the communities that they police."
(new new Ferguson update for today prez)
Ferguson: officer relieved of duty after video of racist remarks surfaces
Dan Page, among the police working at Ferguson protests, is relieved after video emerges of him saying ‘I’m into diversity, I kill everybody’
cont..
A police officer involved in the protests over Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, has been relieved of his duty after video surfaced of him making racist and derogatory remarks.
Dan Page was recorded in April giving a speech in which he described President Barack Obama as an illegal immigrant, and railed against Muslims and gay people. “I’m into diversity – I kill everybody,” he said.
Page - who was seen live on CNN earlier this week threatening to arrest the network’s anchor Don Lemon – is the second St Louis county officer to have been stood down in controversial circumstances surrounding the Ferguson protests. Lieutenant Ray Albers was suspended on Wednesday after video emerged of him pointing his assault weapon at protestors and threatening to kill them.
In his speech, Page, who claims to have been a sergeant major in the US army and a Vietnam war veteran, sharply criticized laws intended to protect minorities from racially-motivated hatred and to help increase ethnic diversity.
Citing the US declaration of independence’s statement that “all men are created equal”, he said: “That does not mean affirmative action. It means we’re all equal … God does not respect persons so we have no business passing hate crime laws.”
“This here”, he added, brandishing a copy of the Bible, “is the foundation for this”, meaning the declaration of independence. Referring to the justices of the supreme court in Washington DC, he added: “You can’t separate them. I don’t know what them black-robed perverts don’t understand down there.”
Page made his remarks during an address earlier this year to a St Louis branch of the Oath Keepers, an association of former and serving military personnel, police officers and first responders. The group says that its members “pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic’”.
At one point during a slideshow of his past travels, Page displayed a photograph of himself in Kenya. “I said ‘I wanna go find where that illegal alien claiming to be my president, my undocumented president, lives at.’” He has previously said in interviews that he retired from the army because of Obama.
Page also told the audience in his speech: “If you take a stand against sodomy or abortion you’re a terrorist, ladies and gentlemen … In the military right now we have open sodomy, people holding hands, people swapping spit together. Sick. It’s pitiful.”
Later in his remarks, Page told a questioner in the audience: “Policemen are very cynical. I know I am. I don’t trust anybody. I hate everybody. I hate y’all, too. I hate everybody. I’m into diversity – I kill everybody. I don’t care.”
At another point, Page said: “I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord saviour, but I’m also a killer. I’ve killed a lot, and if I need to I’ll kill a whole bunch more.
“If you don’t want to get killed, don’t show up in front of me. It’s that simple. God did not raise me to be a coward. There comes a time when you’ve got to man up.”
After viewing the video clip, the Guardian asked a St Louis County police spokesman repeatedly throughout Friday to confirm that Page was indeed a police officer who had worked on the protests. The spokesman initially said: “I don’t recognise the name.”
CNN first reported that Page was being relieved of his duties on Friday afternoon. The St Louis spokesman then confirmed to the Guardian that he was a county officer and added that Page had been “relieved of duty from here and placed in an administrative capacity pending an internal investigation”.
John Moore, a radio presenter and fellow Vietnam veteran who said he had been friends with Page for 26 years, told the Guardian on Friday Page had served in the St Louis police for “more than 20 years” and had remained a military reservist until recently.
“He’s been up to his eyeballs in a riot for about two weeks, dealing with rioters in 100 degree humidity. It’s rough. It’s a warzone,” said Moore. “He’s been working 12-hour shifts with no access to proper rest, proper food.”
OMFG prez, this whole things stinks more and more every passing day, read this:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
here Eric i don't know if you have this yet:
http://www.aclu-mo.org/...
(new case update) the grand jury in the Brown case is 75% White prez, via St Louis Post 2hrs ago..
The grand jury that is hearing evidence in the Michael Brown shooting death has one black man and two black women on the panel, and six white men and three white women.
The Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that the grand jury had three black people, but the gender information is new. The gender information was supplied by Paul Fox, director of judicial administration for St. Louis County Circuit Court.
Fox said Judge Carolyn Whittington has scheduled a hearing for Monday morning on a request to release more details about the makeup of the grand jury, including age and hometown or zip code.
The demographics roughly reflect the racial breakdown of St. Louis County's population, which is about 24 percent black and about 68 percent white.
(case update) hey prez, i heard the Ferguson Police are dinking around with the police records from the Brown shooting, this looks very bad, even more bad than before, and now the cop who shot that kid has his right-wing friends over on Fox News lying about injuries to the officer who murdered that kid who had his hands up. I hope Eric is taking note of all this and is in communication with the mother of that kid (*if she or anyone from Ferguson is reading this: pay no mind to the weird shit i talk to prez about, we get even weirder than this me and prez..)
hey prey check out leveon bell: “I didn’t know you could get a DUI for being high.."
dude that quote is awesome, my man Tomlin has to get the Steelers back to the Jerome years and run that ball. leveon continued:
"I smoked two hours ago. I’m not high anymore. I’m perfectly fine. Why would I be getting high if I had to make it to my game?”"
prez, i heard the 2 running backs for the Steelers just got busted with an ounce of weed, i hope they don't get suspended, Pittsburgh is my main team behind Chicago, the Bears are going to win the Super Bowl this year prez i am calling it right now: Bears, but also, i wanted to tell you guys and Eric about what it was like to be white in Newark growing up, as Chris Christie knows, the story we white people (italian, spanish, and portugese mostly back then..) were told was that Newark "went bad" after the 1967 riots, that's the white people propaganda we were fed as kids in the 1970's and 1980's. I learned about how the banks played a role in fucking that whole place up later on, in the 90's. That's when i first learned how the banks really operated, and how shifty they were on a large (broad) scale. (*prez, use of the "N" word was never heard in our house growing up we were too poor for that, i didn't start using "N" word until rap music came out. For me, 1987 i would say, after "The Last Dragon" came out, i remember Sho'nuff of Harlem throwing down alot of "N' word in that movie..)
yo prez, i have to say, even though residents, journalists, and protesters were totally abused by the all the police in Ferguson, including Capt. Johnson, i must say that i personally thank him for stepping up to help his community, it was huge for the history of the black community that him and Eric too stood up like that and kept it within that perspective. All the other Ferguson groups too, the peacekeepers, those folks are heroes. I wish the police would just release those police reports from the shooting, the Ferguson police have to stop dragging this whole thing out i think. It doesn't seem fair to anyone involved to drag it out so long.
hey prez, that fed reserve meeting in Wyoming is sure to be wholesome and constructive, wholesome in the sense of Janet Yellen flipping the bird at the inflation hawks, but mentally.
hahaha....prez, i just read in politico Eric was saying he got hassled in New Jersey by the cops when he was a kid. that's "oh no" right there. your extra screwed if they are Jersey State troopers. the police will bust your f'ng head straight up in new jersey, i know, and i'm white. forget it if your black..
-this update here is for valerie, prez i always talk past her and she is smarter than you even, so check this out valerie its about medical marijuana in missouri:
http://www.semissourian.com/...
this is meta subliminal right here prez:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
prez i got Discovery Cable TV News this AM about the police video cams, check it out:
http://news.discovery.com/...
(update) Reuters 1hr ago..
In the hours after darkness fell Tuesday, protesters were notably fewer in number and more subdued than on previous nights, with more onlookers milling about the fringes as civic leaders, members of the clergy and even Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster mingled with demonstrators.
Two dozen police in military-style uniforms took positions across the street from a burned-out gas station where protesters on Monday threw at least one gasoline bomb.
But confrontations between police and protesters seemed mostly isolated. A group of people playing music and dancing on top of a white truck bearing the slogan "Don't loot don't shoot" were ordered by police to move on.
prez the scene is all mellow there now im telling you. prez, i love these people these new activists mixing with the old ones, NAACP, Black Panthers, Amnesty, all the journalists, the Ferguson peoples. That kid would want everyone to party right now too, i know it.
(update prez) 30min ago al jazeera usa:
Al Jazeera field producer David Douglas reports having seen a number of uniformed St. Louis County police officers patrolling the streets of Ferguson Tuesday without wearing badges. The county police department has not, thus far, returned calls for comment.
prez i think this stuff is going to keep on happening until we put small video cameras on all the police. that tech is cheap and we should get that going. i was also reading that the black community is super connected right now via mobile video tech, more than whites even, so i think more Fergusons may be on the horizon unless we get cameras on all the cops and cop cars, so the african and other minority communities (and the police) can know for sure that all that shit is being recorded for later review by someone. the way it is right now don't instill much confidence in anyone.
(update) prez i think this is the part right here that the white police are using to beat up the protesters:
There should be no hesitation to attack the Naders, the Marcuses and others who openly seek destruction of the system. There should not be the slightest hesitation to press vigorously in all political arenas for support of the enterprise system. Nor should there be reluctance to penalize politically those who oppose it.
everyone always gives Ralph Nader shit, what is it with that guy. and who the fuck is "Marcus", ill read that thing later on and see. Thats you prez: Marcus X
(newer update) Claire Mccaskill: what happened to that GM recall stuff i was reading about last month? Claire, in all fairness, it must be recognized that businessmen have not been trained or equipped to conduct guerrilla warfare with those who propagandize against the system, seeking insidiously and constantly to sabotage it. The traditional role of business executives has been to manage, to produce, to sell, to create jobs, to make profits, to improve the standard of living, to be community leaders, to serve on charitable and educational boards, and generally to be good citizens. They have performed these tasks very well indeed.
But they have shown little stomach for hard-nose contest with their critics, and little skill in effective intellectual and philosophical debate.
A column recently carried by the Wall Street Journal was entitled: "Memo to GM: Why Not Fight Back?" Although addressed to GM by name, the article was a warning to all American business...
(update) i know this is all just quality control is essential prez, but in Missouri even.
(update) prez that protest is totally peaceful i love those people, there are white people and black people and little kids even i saw. im watching it now.
prez i also saw Lewis Powell Jr today prez: Tennessee v. Garner(1985).
yo prez i had a good chance there and i missed it. My new poll should have said "do you think the press should have a highly visible presence in Ferguson?" i fucked up my poll question, this kid here is driving me up a fukin wall today prez i gotta go..
(old updates)
I dunno prez, i got nothing. you know who i blame for all this mess.
actually prez, i just found this on hufpo 2 minutes ago:
After a preliminary autopsy this weekend revealed that Michael Brown was shot at least six times, the teenager's mother had just one question on Monday for police: "What else do we need to give them to arrest the killer of my child?"
The independent autopsy found that Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head. Members of Brown's family surrounded their attorney, Benjamin Crump, at a press conference Monday as he described their emotional turmoil and called for a fair investigation into the teen's death. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, wants justice for her son and is desperate for answers, Crump said.
Dr. Michael Baden, the former New York City chief medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, also addressed the media, saying there was "no evidence of a struggle" -- a key detail at odds with the police's reported accounts of what transpired moments before an officer shot and killed Brown on Aug. 9.
"The family has a right to know how their loved one died," Baden said.
another update prez,
this guy here is talking about America's coming race war and Kent State, i visited the place where that all went down back in the 90's, walked through the whole thing with some folks that were there back in 1970. i hope that situation don't happen again like 50 years later. I wonder what Lewis Powell Jr. would say about this stuff, i bet he would be upset about what happened to that kid i think.
speaking of tiny small-man (not bibi prez) i'm talking about Bruce Lee, remember that time Kareem kicked Bruce Lee in the chest in that movie and left that giant black footprint on Bruce's chest? that's how giant Kareem is prez, he's taller than you, and blacker too. He should run for vice prez with Liz Warren. You proved someone can get elected in America with a Muslim name prez.
Bruce Lee explains here how to be a true giant:
"Don't think: feel
It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory."
(prez check out that Bruce Lee knowledge there, that's like NASA but he was a karate guy. we used to make those homemade nunchuks back in the 70's when we were kids, you know you had nunchuks back in the 70's prez. this is what Kareem is talking about up there in Time, OK, you could probably afford to buy real nunchuks because you were a rich kid, but we had to make ours. My cousin used to make nice ones though..)
a new new update prez from this morning's Businessweek:
Obama Should Go to Ferguson, Pronto
..in Ferguson, it’s now become clear that those security problems are being exacerbated by the police. They have been firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters for days. They further inflamed the situation by releasing, against the wished of federal investigators, a videotape allegedly showing Brown robbing a convenience store (the tape provided no basis for killing Brown). The menacing defensiveness with which they’ve conducted themselves–arresting reporters and refusing to release basic information–has badly undermined the public’s faith. In general, they’ve done such a poor job of de-escalating the tension and bringing about a return to order that Missouri’s governor, after inexplicably keeping his distance from the shooting for days, has now concluded local law enforcement can’t do the job itself and has called in the National Guard.
In Ferguson, the logic of why a president should keep his distance has now flipped. That’s because the main force driving the protests is no longer Brown’s death, but widespread anger at the acute lack of leadership displayed by almost every local and state official with responsibility for addressing it. This leadership crisis extents beyond crowd control and security to the investigation into why Brown was killed and whether anyone will held responsible for it. It’s no accident that Brown’s family felt the need to hire its own pathologist to conduct an autopsy.
It’s also no accident that the FBI and Justice Department are running their own investigations of what happened. Clearly, they lack confidence that local law enforcement officials will do a capable and honest job. But things are so far gone in Ferguson that only Obama himself can reassure the broader public and instill confidence that Brown’s case will be handled as it should be. All the more so, given his impressive track record of speaking to the country about race. Obama did the right thing by cutting short his summer vacation. But he should go to Ferguson before returning to Washington.
Hey prez, i have a new update, this one is a blend of the Ferguson stuff, the media control stuff, and weed stuff, OK, this is from
New York Magazine 1hr ago:
One reason for the sustained anger carrying the Michael Brown protests into a second week, beyond the general pattern of racial injustice, locally and nationally, going back decades or centuries, is the sense that the investigation is taking too long. Beginning with the fact that Brown's lifeless body lay in the street for four hours, in the summer sun, after he was shot, every official response has been delayed or drawn out, most notably the naming of Darren Wilson as the officer responsible, which took nearly a week.
Adding fuel to the idea that there's a conspiracy or cover-up in motion, there's a pattern developing in Ferguson: When the information finally does come out, it's been tainted by irrelevant disclosures meant to undermine the character of a dead black teenager. This time, predictably, it's marijuana use. We've seen this before, and we're seeing it again.
prez, i just found Eric in the ABC News
10 min ago this is a good article i think looking at this case from an AG perspective:
The U.S. Department of Justice has mounted an unusually swift and aggressive response to the death of Michael Brown, from an independent autopsy to dozens of FBI agents combing Ferguson, Missouri, for witnesses to the shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer.
The goal, legal observers say, is to ensure that the truth about the killing is revealed, to ease racial tensions, and to reassure those fearing a cover-up that justice will be done.
cont..
a Ferguson resident who lives 50 yards from where Brown was shot, is glad that federal agents are on the scene. He was interviewed by an FBI agent Saturday. He doubts that local officials would file charges against the officer.
"It seems (federal officials) don't have a horse in the race," Cheney said.
Kelley said Holder's actions were reminiscent of the role played by Attorney General Robert Kennedy (whose portrait hangs outside Holder's office) during the civil rights movement, when President John F. Kennedy was trying to navigate black resistance to white supremacy in the Jim Crow South. Ultimately, the Kennedys used federal authority to ensure equal treatment for African-Americans. They also brought federal civil rights charges in some cases — a possibility that Holder's Justice Department is investigating in Ferguson.
New York Times, 3 minutes ago..
Justice Dept. Asked Ferguson Police not to Release Video That Reignited Protests, Official Says
Unrest returned to the streets of this St. Louis suburb early Saturday as hundreds of demonstrators, angered by the shooting death of an unarmed African-American teenager by a police officer, engaged in a standoff with the police that was punctuated by threats and a new round of denunciations of law enforcement practices.
The confrontation, the first serious one since the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Thursday assumed responsibility for security operations here, ended at about 4 a.m. when the authorities, prompted by the gradual dispersal of demonstrators, pulled back to their nearby command post. The Associated Press reported that one law enforcement official had been injured overnight.
cont..
A United States law enforcement official said Saturday that the Justice Department had “opposed the release of the robbery video.”
The Ferguson police had wanted to release the video on Thursday, the official said, but the Justice Department asked them not to because of concerns “it would roil the community further.”
The release of the video on Friday “occurred over the objection of federal authorities,” said the official, speaking on ground rules of anonymity to describe discussions between a federal agency and a local police force.
(update) It looks like Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has
just declared a "state of emergency" and curfew in Ferguson. Who the heck is
Jay Nixon?
A year later, Nixon filed a motion in district court seeking to end St. Louis' school desegregation program. At that point, black students from the city were being bused to white districts elsewhere in St. Louis County, part of a 12-year-old effort to decrease the racial homogenization of the state's education system. Nixon argued that the expense of the program wasn't worth it. (The program was revised in the late 1990s.) Nixon's position infuriated the local NAACP..
(update #2) MSNBC, 2hrs ago..
A police chief slips out the back door. Officers dress in military fatigues and fire tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. Authorities can’t seem to get their story straight.
Authorities still haven’t released official details of the shooting, despite residents and reporters asking for an explanation. The U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI have taken the lead in investigating the shooting after local police handed over the case.
According to eyewitness accounts, Brown had his hands in the air when Wilson delivered the fatal shot. Brown’s body lay for hours in broad daylight on the residential street where he was killed. According to The New York Times, a man who lives across the street from the scene of the shooting claimed that police prevented a woman who said she was a nurse from giving Brown medical attention.
(Update #3) ABC News, 10min ago..
Nixon said the U.S. Department of Justice is beefing up its civil rights investigation of the shooting.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is in charge of security in Ferguson, said 40 FBI agents were going door-to-door in the neighborhood starting Saturday, talking to people who might have seen or have information about the shooting.
Johnson assured those at the news conference that police would not enforce the curfew with armored trucks and tear gas but would communicate with protesters and give them ample opportunity to leave. Nixon and Johnson were flanked by numerous local elected officials, including U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., who urged Johnson to be flexible with the midnight curfew.
But they were interrupted repeatedly.
"Why is the focus on security and not getting justice? Why is there not an arrest?" one women yelled.
Among the many people shouting questions was Malik Shabazz, the president of Black Lawyers for Justice, who said that members of his group and the New Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam had been helping to maintain order and deter protesters from violence.
"It seems to be a tight curfew line that could be a prescription for confrontation," said Shabazz, who asked unsuccessfully that the curfew's start be delayed by an hour.
(update #4) Hufpo is staying on top of this via twitter
tonight prez:
Missouri State Senator On Michael Brown Killing: Theft Does Not Equal Death
Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D), who represents parts of Ferguson, said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Friday, "It doesn't matter if Michael Brown committed theft or not. That's not the issue. The issue is what happened when Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown, and when he died -- when he was killed. Those are the only facts that are necessary."
Chapelle-Nadal, who has been critical of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's (D) handling of events in Ferguson, went on, "You need to know what happened in their first encounter, and between that, and when Michael Brown was shot," adding "If someone is an alleged thief, that does not equal a shooting, it doesn't equal death."
(update #5) Twitter is saying that Capt. Ron Johnson and the New Black Panthers are doing their best to keep things calm tonight prez, i just read that Capt. Johnson talked to some masked protesters and won them over onto his side just now. Get Capt. Johnson on the TV some more, people respect that guy.
(update #6) the USA Today just ripped into the Ferguson Police Department 20 minutes ago..
They're a cross between Bull Connor, the iconic racist police chief of the segregation era, and the Keystone Cops.
Nearly a week after Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., the circumstances remain as murky as the nearby Mississippi River during a flood. Police and a Brown friend tell radically different stories about whether the shooting was justified or something closer to homicide.
It's too early for conclusions about the shooting. But the behavior of the Ferguson police department is another matter.
Its heavy handed, unprofessional tactics since the shooting raise grave doubts about both its competence and its credibility. It certainly cannot be trusted to investigate itself or, for that matter, to protect the community.
Police have enraged the public they serve by showing little respect for constitutional rights and little recognition of how Brown's killing has tapped into a deep vein of distrust of law enforcement among African Americans. By refusing to disclose basic information, including the name of the officer who shot Brown and autopsy results that could shed light on the case, they've needlessly raised suspicion.
Certainly, the officer and his family need protection, but a police department is fully capable of achieving that goal without resorting to stonewalling tactics that demolish public trust. After all, police and prosecutors routinely disclose names of arrested suspects, and in New York City, no stranger to this kind of controversy, it took only two days for police to make public the name of the officer who allegedly killed a black suspect in July by putting him in an illegal chokehold.
Poll: