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| | ====Ferguson riots==== | | ====Ferguson riots==== |
| | [[File:Eric Holder.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Eric Holder, point man for the administration's racial agitation program.]] | | [[File:Eric Holder.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Eric Holder, point man for the administration's racial agitation program.]] |
| − | According to witnesses deemed credible by investigators, a [[Grand Jury]], and even eventually the [[United States Department of Justice]] Civil Rights Division, 18 year old Michael Brown was shot 6 times and killed by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, MO Police Dept. after Brown assaulted the Officer with a punch to the face from a standing position through the police vehicle window, and attempted to wrest control of the Officer's [[firearm]]. Brown was the main suspect in a strong arm [[robbery]] that occurred moments earlier. Brown was unarmed, and his body lay in the street as Police conducted an investigation lasting several hours. | + | According to witnesses deemed credible by investigators, a [[Grand Jury]], and even eventually the [[United States Department of Justice]] Civil Rights Division, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot six times and killed by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, MO Police Dept. after Brown assaulted the Officer with a punch to the face from a standing position through the police vehicle window, and attempted to steal the Officer's [[firearm]]. Brown was the main suspect in a strong-arm [[robbery]] that occurred moments earlier. Brown was unarmed, and his body lay in the street as Police conducted an investigation lasting several hours. |
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| − | The [[White House]] sent 3 representatives to Brown's funeral<ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/08/24/342868844/3-white-house-aides-to-attend-michael-browns-funeral-service</ref> as violence and looting already occurred.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/looting-erupts-after-vigil-slain-missouri-teen-michael-brown-n177426</ref> President Obama called the death of the 6'4", 292 lb. Brown, who smashed Officer Wilson's face while in a sitting position, "heartbreaking".<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/looting-erupts-after-vigil-slain-missouri-teen-michael-brown-n177426</ref> Eric Holder was dispatched to meet with Brown's family and begin a separate DOJ investigation before local authorities completed their own. As in the Louis Gates and Trayvon Martin cases, Obama and Holder began a series of public statements impugning the integrity of public servants who were lawfully fulfilling their duties.<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/private-pathologist-michael-brown-family-testify-grand-jury</ref> Obama spoke of "a gulf of mistrust between local residents and law enforcement"<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-talks-gulf-of-mistrust-between-police-communities/</ref> and Brown's family flew to [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] to testify before the United Nations Committee Against Torture, alleging police violence against [[African-American]]s was widespread and commonplace in the [[United States]].<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/michael-brown-family-headlines-delegation-un-panel-geneva</ref> | + | The [[White House]] sent three representatives to Brown's funeral<ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/08/24/342868844/3-white-house-aides-to-attend-michael-browns-funeral-service</ref> as violence and looting already occurred.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/looting-erupts-after-vigil-slain-missouri-teen-michael-brown-n177426</ref> Barack Obama called the death of the 6'4", 292 lb. Brown, who smashed Officer Wilson's face while in a sitting position, "heartbreaking".<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/looting-erupts-after-vigil-slain-missouri-teen-michael-brown-n177426</ref> Eric Holder was dispatched to meet with Brown's family and begin a separate DOJ investigation before local authorities completed their own. As in the Louis Gates and Trayvon Martin cases, Obama and Holder began a series of public statements impugning the integrity of public servants who were lawfully fulfilling their duties.<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/private-pathologist-michael-brown-family-testify-grand-jury</ref> Obama spoke of "a gulf of mistrust between local residents and law enforcement"<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-talks-gulf-of-mistrust-between-police-communities/</ref> and Brown's family flew to [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] to testify before the United Nations Committee Against Torture, alleging police violence against [[African-American]]s was "widespread" and "commonplace" in the [[United States]].<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/michael-brown-family-headlines-delegation-un-panel-geneva</ref> |
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| | The pro-[[China]] [[Freedom Road Socialist Organization]] (now Liberation Road) and its allies claim to have brought nearly 10,000 activists into [[St. Louis]], Missouri, to swell the ranks of the rioters. | | The pro-[[China]] [[Freedom Road Socialist Organization]] (now Liberation Road) and its allies claim to have brought nearly 10,000 activists into [[St. Louis]], Missouri, to swell the ranks of the rioters. |
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| − | When the Grand Jury failed to indict the Officer, more violence erupted. Months later, Holder's Justice Department, again, was forced to publicly admit there was no cause to consider the death of the black teenager as a [[civil rights]] violation or [[hate crime]]. When Holder's announcement came, more rioting erupted and two police officers were shot. President Obama reserved his reaction on the shooting of the two officers for a late night comedy show, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/13/heres-how-president-obama-responded-to-the-shooting-of-two-ferguson-police-officers-on-jimmy-kimmel-live/</ref> | + | When the Grand Jury failed to indict the Officer, more violence erupted. Months later, Holder's Justice Department, again, was forced to publicly admit there was no cause to consider the death of the black teenager as a [[civil rights]] violation or [[hate crime]]. When Holder's announcement came, more rioting erupted and two police officers were shot. Obama reserved his reaction on the shooting of the two officers for a late night comedy show, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/13/heres-how-president-obama-responded-to-the-shooting-of-two-ferguson-police-officers-on-jimmy-kimmel-live/</ref> |
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| | Dollar costs of the [[Ferguson riots]] by mid 2015 were still not available, that is, damage to [[private property]] and government riot control costs. The ''real cost'' is in the loss of ''future'' income which now will never materialize.<ref>http://hoosierecon.com/2015/03/07/total-cost-of-ferguson-riots/</ref> | | Dollar costs of the [[Ferguson riots]] by mid 2015 were still not available, that is, damage to [[private property]] and government riot control costs. The ''real cost'' is in the loss of ''future'' income which now will never materialize.<ref>http://hoosierecon.com/2015/03/07/total-cost-of-ferguson-riots/</ref> |