Daily Archives: August, 18, 2014

Monday Catch-Up: The Gentle Giant Narrative Crumbles

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It’s back to school week, so there’s been a flurry of activity at my house getting ready for the big day (Wednesday.) I’ve been swamped – in case you’re wondering about the light blogging.

I haven’t done a link-around in awhile, and I’ve got a lot of tabs open on Ferguson, so I guess we’re going to focus on that.

As I’m sure, you’ve noticed, the entire “Gentle Giant” narrative that initially took hold – is falling apart.

This is all coming down in Jim Hoft’s (Gateway Pundit) backyard. If you haven’t been reading his on the scene reports, you should be.

BREAKING: Michael Brown Was Shot IN FRONT By #Ferguson Cop – Not in the Back – Autopsy Released

SHOCK VIDEO: Protester Shot & Hogtied By #Ferguson Police

PHOTO COLLECTION: ‘Peaceful Protesters’ Vandalize, Loot & Destroy #Ferguson Businesses

CALL OFF THE RACE HUSTLERS… Autopsy Shows Big Mike Brown Was Bumrushing Cop – Not Surrendering

MO Governor Calls in National Guard to #Ferguson After Bashing Local Cops

Michael Brown’s Mother: No Peace Possible Until Police Officer Darren Wilson Is Arrested (Video)

Autopsy SHOOTS HOLES in Eyewitness Testimony: Victim Michael Brown WAS NOT Shot in Back

SECOND RALLY Held in Support of #Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in St. Louis

MO DEMOCRAT Accuses Police of Purposely Planning & Executing #Ferguson Violence (Video)

Allapundit at Hot Air reports that the Brown family lawyers still maintain, One of the gunshots that hit him was back-to-front:

Big news if true as it seemingly contradicts a key takeaway from Michael Baden’s autopsy, that none of the shots that hit Brown came from the back. As noted in the last post, eyewitness accounts are mixed: Dorian Johnson claims Brown was hit from behind before turning and putting his hands up, an eyewitness who live-tweeted the shooting claims that two shots were fired at his back before Brown turned to face Darren Wilson and was then fired at repeatedly, and a third eyewitness captured on audio claims that Brown initially ran away from Wilson before coming back at him. There’s rough consistency there on Brown’s movements, first fleeing from Wilson and then facing him, but when the shots were fired, which shots hit him, and what Brown was doing when he turned back towards Wilson are uncertain.

The Conversation: Holder DOJ Behind the Suppression of Michael Brown Robbery Video:

The shooting took place on Saturday, August 9 and it took until the Friday the 15th for the surveillance video to be released. Since the shooting occurred, Ferguson has been wracked with  riots, destruction of property and looting every night.

The significance of the surveillance video has understandably led some to wonder,why on earth did the police not release it sooner?

“What upsets me is that it should have been all over the news,” said Tatinisha Wheeler, a protester who lives in St. Louis. She said she was confused why the police wouldn’t have immediately said Mr. Brown had been allegedly involved in a crime. “Now they’re going to say it’s a robbery?” she asked.

If the video had come out right away, the gentle giant narrative would never have been able to take hold in the way it did.

Now we know the reason for the delay.

The Holder Justice Department pressured the Ferguson Police Dept. not to release the tape showing the latest left-wing cause celeb to be a violent criminal.

Via NBC News:

The Department of Justice urged Ferguson police not to release surveillance video purporting to show Michael Brown robbing a store shortly before he was shot and killed by police, arguing the footage would further inflame tensions in the St. Louis suburb that saw rioting and civil unrest in the wake of the teenager’s death.

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson released the video Friday, telling reporters that he had no choice because the media requested the release under the Freedom of Information Act. The Department of Justice, which is conducting its own investigation into Brown’s Aug. 9 death, has had a copy of the footage all along and never considered releasing it to the public, the source said.

Holder has also ordered another autopsy in addition to the state-performed autopsy.

John Hayward, the Conversation: The truth will set you free…or maybe inflame you, one or the other

I find this whole idea of suppressing the truth because it might be “inflammatory” to be incredibly offensive, not to mention obviously ineffectual.  The people who profess sympathy for the protesters in Ferguson are awfully quick to patronize them as volatile children who can’t handle the truth.  (Let’s be honest, some peopleare sympathetic to the rioters and looters too, and I suspect those individuals are no longer terribly concerned with the truth, so it’s not going to “inflame” them any more than they already are.)

Indulging in dark fantasies about Saint Michael Brown the Gentle Giant gunned down for no reason by an evil racist rogue cop certainly hasn’t done much to restore order in Ferguson, has it?  On the contrary, that’s just making it worse.  This whole thing got started because people latched onto false narratives within hours (actually, to judge by some of the social media traffic, minutes) of the incident.  They couldn’t be troubled to wait even a few days for the truth.  How’s that working out for everyone?

The Right Scoop: Larry Elder: If Ferguson Police Dept. must represent racial makeup of city, then Obama can’t be president

Larry Elder said today on CNN regarding the suggestion that the Ferguson police department must match the racial composition of the city in order to represent them, that if this is true then Obama can’t be president since blacks are only 13% of the United States.

Twitchy: Why is Obama grinning in this Ferguson briefing photo? Plus, key question for Pres. Photo Op:

 

Twitchy: ‘FEEL THE RESPECT, MINIONS’! Tie-less Obama oozes ‘detachment and contempt’ [photo]

 UPDATE:

This is significant: