Psssssssssssssssssst I heard that the police chief in Ferguson

[malaise]

will be stepping down...expect more resignations

Thanks Obama - thanks Eric Holder - thanks for the protests America.

The City Manager resigned last night.

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahahha

[blm]

1. FINALLY!!!

DOJ is doing what it was designed to do from its creation. How often can we even say that?

[Electric Monk]

57. malaise was correct :) Here's the LBN thread about this good news

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141036746

[herding cats]

2. This is some really good news!

Thanks for the heads up in advance.

[CatWoman]

3. I was about to post this story, glad I checked first

Ferguson Police Chief to Resign, Fox Reports

Police sources have told Fox Jackson will resign and he is reportedly not being forced out.

Jackson has been rather silent about the DOJ’s report last week about the Ferguson police targeting black people for revenue-raising purposes. As recently as last Friday, he had told a reporter he hadn’t read the report just yet.

There was a report back in October that Jackson would step down, which he vociferously denied at the time. He said any resignation on his part would be his decision, and said just days later, “I’m going to stay and see this through. I report to the city manager, period. And as long as he and the council support me, then I intend to stay.”

Ferguson’s city manager, it should be noted, resigned yesterday.

[image via screengrab]

http://www.mediaite.com/online/ferguson-police-chief-to-resign-fox-reports/

[malaise]

4. Hi there sis

[CatWoman]

6. ...

[freebrew]

92. "Ferguson’s city manager, it should be noted, resigned yesterday." ...

after he was voted out by the BOA.

[azmom]

5. We need to celebrate. This is great news.

[Jamaal510]

7. K&R

[sabrina 1]

8. Very good news. I hope the whole department is shut down. That would leave Wilson again

without a job. Last Dept he worked for, was shut down also.

[malaise]

10. He'll probably head for Ohio

[cui bono]

78. Yeah, he's going to work on taking down the Cincinnatti police dept.

Or maybe Columbus... He's really an undercover hippy, dontcha know.

[Enthusiast]

86. Please, no!

[glowing]

15. Wilson already resigned.

[sabrina 1]

18. Yes, I forgot that he had resigned. Is he receiving benefits? And are they from that Department?

[glowing]

27. I don't think so... He waited till the Grand Jury decided he didn't

need a trial... And then he resigned. I don't know the terms of his leaving. Perhaps, there was a monetary agreement? More than likely, the FPD did more than enough covering up investigative reports and releasing video from a store incident to muddle up the investigation and create the "blame the victim" narrative that works time and time again with about half of this country.

[zeemike]

32. From what I read a while back.

He received donations like Zimmerman did...enough that he was set for life...and he probably gets a pension to boot.
There is money to be made in killing black kids.

[tblue37]

33. I thought he was going to resign. Was that just PR? nt

[malaise]

42. The fact that the Manager is gone and he is leaving today suggests that

the entire Ferguson goon squad is likely to be disbanded

[sabrina 1]

49. I agree, when I was reading about how their City Council/PD etc works, the City Manager appears to

have the most power airc, wrt to the PD etc.

S/he eg, gets to appoint the Police Chief, airc. I wonder if the entire City Council will resign?

They were so arrogant until they were exposed for the world to see. With their nice little system in place.

There is nothing like sunlight to preserve Democracy and send the roaches scurrying.

Kudos to the PROTESTERS there and all the Activists and those who supported them.

It's a start, but Ferguson is only a symbol sparked by the murder of Michael Brown, the authoritarian reaction of all those in power there, from Gov on down.

Now hopefully it will spread across the country.

The militarization of the police was on full display in Ferguson and I think, for those who were unaware of it, scared many Americans.

CNN did some good coverage for a change, and it shows how effective a news media is when it actually works as a news media.

[malaise]

75. CNN surprised me

They did have good coverage

[Enthusiast]

87. Great post, sabrina 1!

[Spazito]

9. Excellent news!

[malaise]

11. He's stepping today

Bye bye! Good riddance!

[Spazito]

16. I am hoping the next step is to disband the whole Ferguson Police Department...

Kudos to AG Holder and the DOJ for their work on exposing the rabid racism throughout their police force and municipal government and courts!

[zeemike]

34. Yep disband them.

And if it were up to me I would hire from the community, trained or not...give them on the job training and supervised and trained by pros from elsewhere.

[Spazito]

40. If the current Police Department is disbanded, the question is will the city...

build a new force or contract out to a neighboring police force? Either option would need a complete re-writing of their hiring practices, imo, given what we now know.

[zeemike]

45. Why not hire new cops from the community.

I am sure there people there who need a job...and who better to know the community than someone that lives there.
Even if they were not trained they could be trained by some cops from other places put there to train the new ones on the job.
The infrastructure is there already so that should be the cheapest way to go.

I don't know what hiring practices are but they are not chiseled in stone.

[Spazito]

47. If they make the decision to reconstruct a new police force from scratch...

they would need to hire a certain number of officers who are already trained, imo, and then work to recruit trainees from the community.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. Bob McCulloch (the DA) needs to go

directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

[sabrina 1]

13. And the Governor has a lot to answer for also. When is he up for reelection?

He sent the military in to suppress peaceful protests rather than admonish the real rioters.

He needs to go also.

[pintobean]

19. He can't run again due to term limits.

He has less than 2 years left. He's a lame duck Democrat with both houses having veto override Republican majorities.

[sabrina 1]

22. Good, I hope he doesn't run for anything else. He was a disgrace, especially as a Democrat

during those protests.

[Ino]

61. Oh sure...

Let's hope that a Democrat that can actually get elected in Missouri never runs again.

[pintobean]

69. Not after Ferguson, he can't.

No one thinks he did anything right.

[Ino]

21. He has served 2 terms...

He's not running again due to term limits. So you will get your wish.

He's a Democrat, BTW.

[Gore1FL]

35. What passes in Missouri Democrat anyway.

He is as embarrassing as Claire McCaskill.

[Enthusiast]

88. +1

[pintobean]

14. Because his grand jury

came to the same conclusion as the DOJ?

Like Holder said, everyone should read the report.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/04/us/doj-report-on-shooting-of-michael-brown.html?_r=0

[sabrina 1]

20. No, because he put a lying witness on the stand, knowing she was lying.

And when some of the jurors learned about that, they were furious. So the outcome of the GJ might have been different from that of the DOJ, IF that witness had not been called to testify to something she never saw.

[pintobean]

25. They put quite a few lying witnesses on the stand.

They also included all the other evidence that showed which witnesses were lying and which weren't. A couple of the witnesses who talked to the FBI and corroborated Wilson's story refused to testify before the grand jury.

Have you read the DOJ report?

[Jack Rabbit]

50. Comment

The report to which you link deals with why Wilson will not be prosecuted under federal civil rights statutes. While it gathers evidence from grand jury procedings, it says nothing about the nature of the grand jury proceedings as directed by Mr. McCulloch. What McCulloch's grand jury found is not relevant to whether McCulloch should be sanctioned for misconduct.

Of course the grand jury found that Wilson should not face charges. McCulloch took months to present the case to the GJ. He used that time to present any and all witnesses who came forward, even those McCulloch knew were lying. That is not something normally done in grand jury proceedings. McCulloch said mothing about who was lying and who wasn't. It was up to the grand jurors themselves to determine who was lying and who was telling the truth. McCulloch called Officer Wilson, the target of the investigation, to testify. Have you ever heard of a criminal investigation where the target of the investigation testifies before a grand jury? It doesn't happen. It isn't terribly useful to hear the target's side of the story in an investigation into whether or not he should face charges. FInally, McCulloch's assistants gave the grand jurors a handout purporting to state the relevant law under which Officer Wilson would be prosecuted. The handout consisted of law that had not been in effect for many years. That was just misleading and was not corrected until late in the proceeding.

Normally, it takes only a day to present a homicide case to a grand jury. McCulloch spent months overwhelming the grand jurors with too much information, much of it misleading and did little or nothing to clarify confusion. In the end, McCulloch instructed the grand jury that if the jurors concluded that any of Officer Wilson's possible defenses would be successful, they should not indict. Grand jurors usually aren't asked to decide such matters, and normally are not presented with the target's possible defenses. A GJ is normally tasked with simply deciding if there is sufficient evidence to charge the suspect with a crime. The suspect, now a defendant, gets to present his side of the story at trial.

Whether McCulloch can be charged with a crime is one question. If there are criminal statutes in Missouri concerning this kind of crap, he should be charged. If not, he should at least have his behavior in the Brown case examined by the state bar association.

[pintobean]

53. Have you read the report?

I would suggest you either read it, or read it again.

McCulloch was just re-elected last November. He will complete his term, and probably get re-elected again, if he decides to run again.

[Jack Rabbit]

60. Yes, I have. Have you?

I stand by my comment. The report concerns why federal investigators conclude that Wilson will not be charged with violating Mike Brown's civil rights under federal law and does not address possible prosecutorial misconduct by Robert McCulloch in front of the grand jury. McCulloch's name does not appear in the report. The only mention of personnel from McCulloch's office concerns interviews with witnesses.

I don't give a damn about McCulloch's electability. I live in California where the gross incompetent Ronald Reagan was elected to two terms as governor before going on to be elected president twice, and the divisive racist Pete Wilson was also elected governor twice and spent eight years distancing himself from Republicans like Pat Buchanan and Jesse Helms out of one side of his mouth and sounding just like them out of the other. Let's get the people McCulloch oppresses registered to vote and then to the polls and see if he still hangs on to his job.

[pintobean]

63. Yes. And that conclusion found that Wilson's

account was supported by the forensic evidence and all credible witnesses. That's what the grand jury concluded.

[Jack Rabbit]

66. Where does it say that the grand jury concluded any such thing?

You certainly didn't read that in the report. The report made no mention of the grand jury proceedings.

The grand jury did not return a bill of indictment. That's all. That's no surprise, since McCulloch effectively acted as Wilson's defense attorney before the grand jury. The victim was deprived of a voice.

Anything else you heard from McCulloch.

[pintobean]

67. I didn't say the DOJ report mentioned the gj

I said that the DOJ and the grand jury came to the same conclusions.

And, McCulloch didn't appear before the grand jury. The fact that you think he did says it all.

[Jack Rabbit]

71. How do you know the GJ came to that specific conclusion?

The GJ simply returned "no true bill." There's no place for the jurors to explain why they voted as they did.

McCuilloch supervised two assistant prosecutors, Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley. He still acted like it was his job to defend Wilson. The case was thrown. The effort was an avoidance of indictment. That had to be at McCulloch's direction. He is responsible for the prosecutorial misconduct that took place. It was McCulloch's decision to confuse the jurors with conflicting evidence and testimony. It was certainly McCulloch who decided to instruct the GJ that they could not return if they thought any one of the possible defenses Wilson could have presented would have gotten him off the hook.

Niether Robert McCulloch nor his underlings who assisted him in this case deserve to hold any position of public trust. The grand jury procededs, which McCulloch directed, were a miscarriage of justice, regardless of whether a petite jury would have acquitted Wilson or not.

[CatWoman]

65. I need to put this in my sig line

Let's get the people McCulloch oppresses registered to vote and then to the polls and see if he still hangs on to his job.

Excellent as usual

[CatWoman]

58. good luck with trying to rationalize over the sound of that beating drum

[pintobean]

59. You still haven't read it, huh?

[Hutzpa]

17. I hope they never get another chance to destroy families again.

nt.

[Cracklin Charlie]

23. Wonderful news for the citizens of Ferguson!

RIP Mike Brown.

[LanternWaste]

24. Some half-wit said the protesters were wrong for disrupting traffic.

Some half-wit said the protesters were wrong for disrupting traffic. Half-wits have a difficult time grasping the concept of the greater good.

[F4lconF16]

31. A lot of half-wits, actually.

Some people are more supportive of civil rights than others.

Sad to see them here too.

[Gore1FL]

38. I would be a half-wit like that. I prefered disrupting voting registration sites by registering. nt

[romanic]

84. Disrupting traffic

did jack squat except piss people off. The corrupt cops are only resigning cause they're asses were under fire from the DOJ. Social media to keep this movement alive were more proactive than sitting on the highway.

[Enthusiast]

89. +1!

[peacebird]

26. Excellent!

[msanthrope]

28. Like I wrote last night...Holder really fucked up their shit. They might be

so bankrupt they can't pay pensions.

[malaise]

43. Holder is an old pro in matters civil rights

he really fucked them up and I'm lovin' it.

[CatWoman]

68. i'm positively GIDDY

[malaise]

72. I'm also delighted that progressives are making the connections with

racist frat boys and institutional racism

[progressoid]

29. Let's nope no one else hires them.

[hopemountain]

81. they will just get honorary promotions at

the next kkk jamboree for taking one for the supreme race of patriots.

[TeamPooka]

30. K&R!

[hifiguy]

36. Good riddance to bad rubbish. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

37. Looks that way

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ferguson-police-chief-tom-jackson-expected-resign-source

[Ed Suspicious]

39. Thank the power of protest and the

national attention the "hands up, don't shoot" meme for exerting influence on the DOJ pushing them to take action.

[jobycom]

41. I wonder how much FOX News will hire him for? nt

[KamaAina]

44. One, two, three, AWWWWWWW!

[Fearless]

46. Congratulations

[TrollBuster9090]

48. Don't get too excited. All that means is that he's accepted the job as CLEVELAND Police Cheif.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

51. Much of white america thinks Holder and Obama are the reason we have problems with

race in America

No, really, they do.

This will make that worse and I couldnt be happier.

BTW

No human being alive could have handled race relations better, as the first black us prez, than Obama...

[Ilsa]

52. Clean house!

Well, almost everybody. I'm sure there were a few decent ones that should stay.

[WillyT]

54. K & R !!!

[Warpy]

55. The DOJ refusal to prosecute one rotten cop is coming into perspective

When the other shoe dropped and their report came out, it turned out to be a problem from the very top down, not from the bottom up. Michael Brown was executed on the street because the department said that was just fine because city management told the department it was open season on young black men.

It's an institutional problem (which people in Ferguson well knew) and now the institution is toppling.

[Enthusiast]

90. Well said, Warpy.

[WillyT]

56. Hey malaise !!! - Take A Look At The Front Page Of HuffPo:

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

[malaise]

74. Wow! Delish!!!

Thanks WillyT

[Rex]

62. YES!!

I hope they do something about the slimeball DA as well! If he doesn't want to do his job, there are others that can take his place that actually care about the law.

[Hekate]

64. Excellent news

[Cha]

70. Thanks Pres Obama & AG Holder! Mahalo malaise!

[Skittles]

73. looks like their scam is up

HASTA LA VISTA BABY

[napkinz]

76. good!

perhaps we need to look at every city and town in America

I think we would find lots of Fergusons

[chknltl]

77. If PD disbands, why can't the good citizens advertise a help wanted across the nation?

Help wanted, Policeman/woman to provide Law Enforcement for the City of Ferguson.
We are starting over from scratch and are advertising for good cops who are willing to relocate. Please provide a resume and a written reason for wishing to come here. Subject to community approval and if accepted we will provide a part of your moving expenses and assist in securing lodging/housing for you and your family.

It seems to me that any cop would be happiest when serving a community that wanted him/her to be there as much as I just suggested in that above ad. Furthermore it seems to me that the community would be equally happy to be so lucky as to have such happy cops serving them. Something like this might pay dividends across our nation.

[DeSwiss]

79. Or, they could try something altogether different.....

- With this opportunity, now is the time to try new things......

[chknltl]

83. I've not heard of this. This short clip is interesting.

I also agree that it is time to try new things. IMO the biggest challenge has to be a political one. Much of what we call crime stems from economics, the higher the poverty level the higher the crime level. Also, the more money that is removed from our Law Enforcement the more Law Enforcement will be stuck turning to replace revenue from the community. Both of these factors which affect crime and Law Enforcement today are partisan driven.

Sorry for the water is wet style analysis but we both know who is wrecking our economy while at the same time lowering the tax dollars City PDs and FDs get access to in order to operate yearly. I think Thom Hartmann has it right when he says that we need to raise our standards when it comes to exactly what kind of people/education/mindset we want for Law Enforcement and we need to significantly raise their pay. Neither of us need Thom's help to understand that more and better paying jobs will lead to a decrease in crime overall.

I think from the little I saw, Cop-Block sounds like it has some great tools and training that could serve Law-Enforcement across our nation and fits in with what Hartmann was talking about.

[nilesobek]

80. The reason we are at this point

is because you cannot put a white police officer in jail for the murder of a black man in this country. How many in a row has it been? Every time the grand jury refuses to indict white officers for killing unarmed black men. Over and over and over...

[nxylas]

82. I'm sure he has a bright future on Fox Noise as a pundint

Expect to see him on there regularly, spouting off about how "black-on-black crime" is the real issue.

[TexasProgresive]

85. Reorganize with Capt. Ron Johnson of the Highway Patrol in charge

[Enthusiast]

93. Excellent suggestion, TexasProgresive.

[TheKentuckian]

91. The entire government needs to be scrapped and rebuilt

The people who order the steps of the cops are even worse than the corrupt and racist department.

[Enthusiast]

94. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

95. :D

!