Distrust in Ferguson

On August 9th, 18- year old Michael Brown was shot at least 6 times (as reported by an independent autopsy) for jaywalking while with his friend, Dorian Johnson. He had allegedly shoplifted some cigarillos, but the story has gone back and forth from the Ferguson PD on whether officer Darren Wilson knew of this or not. Over a week has passed, and the residents of Ferguson,MO are calling for justice. But since the shooting, there's been a building distrust growing.

Ferguson PD. Protesters during the opening days were met with force by the Ferguson and St. Louis county PD. Met with tear gas, rifles aimed, and rolling tanks. These military tactics have raised a lot of questions. Is this how police forces across the country are using federal dollars? A number of politicians have begun to speak out on the militarization of police, from Sen. Rand Paul, to Rep. Hank Johnson who is drafting legislation to limit the Pentagon program that allows for the militarization.  It seems their is a bi-partisan interest here, but it remains to be seen. Watch this space.

Along with the Ferguson PD, Chief Thomas Jackson. Jackson showed during the opening days of protests that he didn't have the Ferguson PD under control. There was no sense of leadership. Then there's when Jackson released the officer's name. He decided to also release an incident report of an alleged robbery of cigarillos. This came against the wishes of the DOJ (Department of Justice) and Gov. Jay Nixon. He also didn't communicate with the new head of security, Capt. Ron Johnson. After a peaceful night, the release of the video connected to the incident report led to an increase of unrest and tension. While Jackson decided to release the report of this "strong arm robbery", they still haven't disclosed the incident report of the actual shooting (which may not exist, as reported by Lawrence O'Donnell). On top of that, Chief Jackson has flip-flopped on whether Officer Wilson knew of the shoplifting incident. First, he said the contact was about jaywalking, then he said Wilson might have seen the cigarillos in Brown's hand. Residents see this selective release of this robbery report as a means of assassinating Brown's character, just as we saw during the Trayvon Martin case. These deflections and refusal of information of any statements to the shooting can be seen as a cover-up. Meanwhile, in the days following the shooting, Officer Wilson'a whereabouts were unknown. Why wasn't Wilson immediately questioned?

St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch. There have been questions surrounding McCulloch. First, its been reported that his father was killed in the line of duty as a cop. If that was the case for a prospective juror, they wouldn't be assigned to the jury. More troubling though, are his comments regarding Gov. Nixon bringing in the Missouri Highway Patrol and Capt. Johnson to take charge of security in Ferguson. McCulloch seemed to be the only one (beside the police union) to criticize the move, supporting the previous actions of the Ferguson and St. Louis county PD. With his support of their action in responding to protesters during the opening days, the distrust is obvious on whether he can be fair regarding this case.

Gov. Jay Nixon. For one, Gov. Nixon was slow to respond. He didn't make an appearance until that first Thursday when he introduced the Missouri Highway Patrol and Capt. Johnson. Ever since though, he's given sloppy press conferences, dodging questions. Its also become apparent that Nixon isn't connected to the community. There are times when he has come off as patronizing to Ferguson residents.

While there's good reason for distrust with local authorities in this case, there are some signs of hope. The DOJ have been conducting their own investigation, and are considering investigating the Ferguson PD as well, following this revelation , where cops detained and assaulted the wrong man, and then charged him with "destruction of property" for bleeding on officers' uniforms. More importantly, Attorney General Eric Holder made an appearance in Ferguson, where he talked to residents, community leaders and state politicians. Along with Holder, FBI agents and civil rights officials are canvassing the area for more witness reports.

Community leaders have reacted to the distrust in the local authorities by conducting voter registration drives. Low-voter turnout is in part the reason for a lack of representation with Ferguson officials. Sadly, low turnout is typical for municipal elections, but the Mike Brown case shows why they are just as, if not more important than national elections.

I for one, am cautiously optimistic that we will see justice here, that we will see the case and evidence laid out in a court of law instead of a court of public opinion. However, it is clear that there's a movement and conversation brewing here. Communities need to feel connected to and represented by their leaders. More importantly, the younger generation especially need to feel connected. There have been young protesters saying "I didn't think I'd live to 21", basically saying they are willing to risk it all for this cause. This generation doesn't feel like they can trust police, or politicians. They feel alone, with no one to turn to, no one to trust.