Wenn man sich das obige Video ansieht, denkt man sich vielleicht „Aha“.

Oder sonst irgendetwas vermeintlich durchdachtes.

Je mehr ich ueber die Augenzeugenberichte zum Hergang der Erschiessung von Mike Brown durch die Polizei von Ferguson gelesen habe, desto groesser wurde meine Wut. Der folgende Text (via) subsummiert das meines Erachtens so gut, dass ich ihn in Gaenze wiedergeben moechte – samt der Empfehlung, den Links zu folgen, besonders zu den Augenzeugenberichten.

Alright, i’m gonna sit down and basically explain the situation in this ask so everyone of my followers knows why i’m so pissed.

Michael Brown, a 17 – 18 year old african american boy was unlawfully shot (8-10 times supposedly) by police in St Louis, Missouri on saturday, august 9th, 2014. He was unarmed, and had done nothing to attract suspicion other than the fact that he was black. His body was left in the street for 4 hours. (beware: somewhat graphic image linked)

There are several claims from witnesses (see: Dorian Johnson’s account andvideo [HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING UP ON HIS ACCOUNT, ITS VERY SPECIFIC] — Brown’s friend who experienced the situation first hand, La’Toya Cash and Phillip Walker— Ferguson residents nearby the incident),  that fall together in generally close claims. However, the only one who’s claim seems out of place is the police officer’s who shot Brown. Who, by the way, is put off on paid administrative leave AND who’s name remained under anonymity for his safety (However, attorney Benjamin Crump is looking for a way to force release his name). He claims that Brown began to wrestle the officer for his gun and tried attacking him after he told Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson (22) to “get the f*ck on the sidewalk”.

According to Johnson, after a minor confrontation on the officer’s part where he grabbed Brown by the neck and then by the shirt, the officer pulled his gun on Brown and shot him at point blank range on the right side of his body. Brown and Johnson were able to get away briefly and started running. However, Brown was shot in the back, supposedly disabling him from getting very far. He turned around with his arms in the air and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!” By this point, Brown and the officer were face to face as the cop shot him several times in the face and chest until he was finally dead. Johnson ran to his apartment and by the sound of his account, seemingly had some sort of panic attack. Later he emerged from his home to see Brown still laying in the streets. People were gathered with their cellphones, screaming at the police.

According to msnbc, the police refuse to interview Johnson at all, despite his amazing courage to come forward. They didn’t wanna hear it. They only listened to the cop’s account of it all and were vague with the media on what they thought happened. They’ve also refused to commit to a timeline in releasing autopsy results and other investigation information.

Numerous rumors are sweeping around such as Brown stealing candy from a QuickTrip, the store he emerged from calling the cops on him, Brown reaching for a gun, Brown attacking the cop first, ect. But these have all been debunked. (I know a lot of these have been debunked, but im having a hard time finding sources. if anyone could help out and link some legit ones id be SO grateful)

The event in and of itself was terrible, but now it has escalated beyond belief. Around 100 or more people, mostly black, went to the police station to protest peacefully. Things quickly turned bad as martial law got involved and authorities were bringing in K9s, tanks, heavy artillery, ect. The heavy police presence only made things worse as riots began to break out and looting and vandalism started. [ x ] [ x ] [ x ]

Now, as of very recently, the media has been banned from Ferguson. There is also a No-Fly zone above Ferguson for the reason of “ TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES ” as said on theFederal Aviation Commission’s website. Cop cars are lined up on the borders to prevent people from entering/leaving. Media outlets are being threatened with arrest. It completely violates our amendments and everything.

It’s becoming increasingly scary and difficult to find out whats going on over there. I’m afraid this is all the information I have, though. If anybody else knows anything about the situation, please feel free to add on or correct any mistakes i’ve made as i’m no expert on writing these things.

And as a personal favor, i’d really appreciate anyone to give this a reblog in order to spread the word. I think it’s a shame that this is going on in our own country yet so few people know about it. Help me make this topic huge and get this as much attention as possible.

Die Polizeikraefte der Gegend tun indes alles, um in der Oeffentlichkeit immer noch schlechter auszusehen Also, sofern das ueberhaupt noch geht, nachdem einer der ihren einen jungen Menschen offenbar im Dienst ermordet hat und der Rest kein bisschen an Aufklaerung interessiert scheint. Da wird auch einfach mal Journalisten willkuerlich das Filmen untersagt und sie werden festgenommen, um dann voellig ohne schriftlichen Bericht oder sonstwas wieder freigelassen zu werden, wie die Washington Post zum Fall ihres eigenen Reporters berichtet:

Multiple officers grabbed me. I tried to turn my back to them to assist them in arresting me. I dropped the things from my hands.

“My hands are behind my back,” I said. “I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting.” At which point one officer said: “You’re resisting. Stop resisting.”

That was when I was most afraid — more afraid than of the tear gas and rubber bullets.

As they took me into custody, the officers slammed me into a soda machine, at one point setting off the Coke dispenser. They put plastic cuffs on me, then they led me out the door.

[…]

“Who’s media?” he asked.

We said we were. And the officer said we were both free to go. We asked to speak to a commanding officer. We asked to see an arrest report. No report, the officer told us, and no, they wouldn’t provide any names.

Indes gleicht die Stadt einem Kriegsschauplatz. Nicht etwa, weil dort zwei Fraktionen aufeinander schiessen wuerden, sondern weil dort die Polizei mit Material auffaehrt, das Ausruestung und Bewaffnung der „richtigen“ US-Armee im Irakkrieg zu uebertreffen versucht, wie es aussieht (via). Oder weil Al-Jazeera vor Ort ist – und von der Polizei offenbar grundlos mit Traenengas beschossen wird, von ihrem Aufnahmeort fliehen muss, und die Polizei anschliessend die Kamera auf den Boden richtet und „unschaedlich“ macht. Weil wer nichts boeses tut, auch nichts zu verheimlichen hat. Oder so.

Auf Boingboing werden weitere Videos und Bilder gesammelt: Polizeieinheiten mit automatischen Waffen, mit gepanzerten Fahrzeugen, mit automatischen Waffen auf gepanzerten Fahrzeugen, die Muendung auf die Menge gerichtet.

Das R-Wort wird auch in der US-Berichterstattung selten direkt angesprochen. Im NPR-Interview mit dem frueheren Polizisten Ronald Hampton (PoC) ist es aber schwer, es nicht zwischen den Zeilen zu lesen – zusammen mit dem bekannten Problem des Korpsgeistes in der Polizei:

Did you ever witness or intervene in an arrest of a black or brown suspect when you thought that arrest was being mishandled?

Yes I did. And I reported it. A call went out for five or six people shooting craps in this alley. I wasn’t the primary car, but arrived on the scene second or third. When we got there, the guys threw dice and money and ran. A white officer chased them. When he caught up with one guy, he grabbed him. The guy didn’t resist arrest, but the officer said, „You don’t make the police run,“ and started beating on him. He was taken to the police station. As I’d witnessed it, I went too.

At the station, they took the guy to a back room to process him. All this time, the officer was taunting him, calling him names. He was handcuffed to the desk, as is policy. They charged him and gave him a $25 fine. At no point in the documentation was there mention anywhere about the cop taunting him. The guy paid the fine, but as he was leaving, he got fed up and punched the officer in the face. Hard. All the cops then jumped him, cuffed him and charged him with assault on a police officer.

The key to all this is what’s in the report — and the same goes for Eric Garner’s report. They wrote in the report, „D1 (Defendant) struck the C1 (Complainant) without any reason or provocation.“ Now, is that what happened? No. The man was provoked. He was constantly being taunted.

Because we were all in the station and the man hit the cop in the face, our policy states that we have to write a statement. Five of us were involved. Four wrote their statements. I wasn’t asked to write one. I did, though, and my statement was different [from] the other four. They lied about the taunting. So now the case is in the system. My statement ended up with the prosecutor. He called me up, and asked me to come down to his office. I went and he pointed out that my statement was different from everyone else’s. I told him what happened, and he said they would have to drop the case because they couldn’t have police officers disagreeing with each other in court.

[…]

I think the power that police have is not the power of arrest, it’s the power to influence the quality of life of people. That’s how I did my job. The white community tell their children when in trouble, go to the police. Black people don’t do that. We protect our kids from police.

At the dinner table … white families will tell children how to interact with the police. They tell them the police are there to help. Blacks do not. My son is autistic and doesn’t drive or speak, so I give this message more to my daughter. I tell her, „If you’re stopped by police, this is the way you have to behave.“ That’s not something white parents need to worry about.

Momentan habe ich fast alles von dem, was ich ueber die Vorkommnisse in Ferguson weiss, aus dem (sozialen) Netz, hauptsaechlich Twitter. In den deutschen Mainstreammedien ist bislang nichts zu lesen, die oertliche Zeitung hat bislang auch noch nichts auf dem Radar.

Falls das auch in die deutschen Medien schwappen sollte, wird interessant werden, welche Perspektive dort vermittelt wird. Ob zum Beispiel der Bericht Dorian Johnsons und der anderen Zeugen eine Rolle spielen wird, oder ob nur das Statement der Polizei wiedergegeben wird. Haltet die Augen offen.