Should Anonymous Reveal the Identity of Homicidal Ferguson Cop?
The online hacktivist group Anonymous says they have the name of the Ferguson, MO police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. As you'd expect, the Ferguson police department is claiming Anonymous has the wrong name (what else would they say?).
Should Anonymous release this name to the public, and take a chance on having an innocent person suffer from possible retaliation? Online hacktivist groups shouldn't act as judge, jury and executioner any more than police officers should.
Then again, why should the name of this Ferguson cop be withheld from the public? The names of accused criminals — unless they're under 18 — are routinely made public. Why should an inept trigger-happy police officer be held to a different standard?
And this article — The fiasco in Ferguson shows why you don't give military equipment to cops — makes an excellent point: The constant refrain about the “militarization of police departments” is NOT accurate. As the author says:
“The great irony of this story is that the military itself would never behave so crudely. And that is precisely why it is beyond reckless to let a bunch of local cops get their hands on a high-grade military arsenal.”
Exactly. Military personnel have been trained in conducting precise high-risk operations and in the use of advanced weapons; most local police officers have not. Giving a high-grade military arsenal to a local police department is like giving a cigarette lighter to a 4-year-old and saying “Here, go play in the barn.”
Labels: Anonymous, Ferguson MO, police militarization
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:38 PM
9 Comments:
I’ve never heard a cops name being withheld in any investigation and I’ve seen more critical situations then the Ferguson one. Cops are public servants and their names being released in an incident is part of the job. I just happen to be watching Hannity last night whom after hearing interviewing the Ferguson Police Chief (who’d taken himself out of the Investigation and refused to confirm or deny any of Hannity’s allegation) then went to his panel of Black Fox reporters who then joined him nodding their heads to his criticism of the looting and the community should be making more noise when one shoots their own (Black on Black crime).
I was reminded some Conservatives of the Day didn’t think Bull Conner went far enough with the Dogs and the Fire hoses in Birmingham on the Civil Rights Marchers, and after the Rodney King Riots the HW Bush administration tried to blame it all on failed “Great Society Programs”. If a significant part of the neighborhood comes out to protest after a police action there (such as a shooting), then the police has a trust problem with the very community they’re supposed to “serve”.
I’ve never seen this in a white neighborhood!
Erik
Erik: I agree, a cop who shoots a civilian is a suspect, just like any other suspect, and should have his name released, same as any other suspect. That Ferguson police chief is just fanning the flames by withholding this information.
I also haven't ever heard of this happening in a white or affluent neighborhood.
You were watching Hannity? You're a better man than I :)
As you know Tom I don't have cable so I was watching this at a friends place. Before that we were watching Sharpton who was showing a friendly looking picture of the victim as opposed to Hannity who was showing a more "menacing" looking picture.
Erik
Erik: Rightwing history re-writers are hard at work giving Michael Brown the Trayvon Martin treatment. You know -- "he wasn't some innocent kid, he was a thug!"
the initial call to 911 was from the guy with Brown and he said that at one point Brown had the gun n his hand.
why do white race baiters always fuel the flames before all the facts are in?
Stop feeding ideas that this is all whiteys fault. Just so happens there are mostly white cops there and only 3 black cops. I can bet had this been a black cop the outcome would have been the same. Then how would the white liberals spin this?
no thugs here
talk about re-writers. We always find out the facts later. That Trayvon Martin was slamming Zimmerman's head on the curb and was sitting on his chest nearly suffocating him to death and not to mention saw the gun and said you are gonna die now and went for the gun.
Make sure you guys keep those facts well tucked away in your subconscious
Anonymous: I'm assuming these 4 comments are all from the same person. It "just so happens" that a mostly black city has only 3 black cops on their police force? That's by design, not "just so happens."
I always love me some Chris Rock.
You're saying Pat Mahaney, the famous jazz guitarist, was beaten to death??? Oh My God, No :)
Nobody knows what happened in that fateful encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin is dead and Zimmerman's story changed more often than a weather forecast.
we never heard Zimmerman's story. The only story that was out there was the left wing race baiting media who was more than happy to interpret the series of events for their gullible audiences
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