Ferguson Police Released Robbery Video Despite DOJ Concerns from the Huffington Post
"The Ferguson Police Department on Friday released a video that allegedly shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store. Critics lashed out at police, saying that the footage's release was an attempt to disparage Brown's character. CNN revealed on Saturday that the Department of Justice found out about the video earlier this week and asked police not to make it public. According to CNN, the DOJ was worried that the footage would spark more violence in Ferguson."
Sad to say, this news does not surprise me -- and it showcases perfectly a central fact: the DOJ and the MO governor are focused on reducing tension and ending the rioting -- and the Ferguson police are concerned about ... something else. This is where I'd love to hear people's speculation as to what that something else is. Here is my theory: the Ferguson police are now in a defensive fetal position where everything they do is about validating their actions over the last week and portraying the black community of Ferguson as an out-of-control, unruly mob for whom shootings, HUMVs, tanks, and all their other military toys and tactics are the only defense. In this light, it makes perfect sense that they would ignore the DOJ's concern and do something they KNEW would throw gasoline on the fire rather than calm things down. Releasing the video has the added benefit of muddying the legal waters in a Treyvon-Martin-kind-of-way as all the white authorities there brace themselves for the hurricane of law suits that is doubtlessly headed their way. Prediction: for any trials that come out of the Michael Brown case, look for Ferguson's white police and leadership to demand a change of venue -- to some nearby all-white community where they could get a sympathetic all-white jury. I suspect that, for the Ferguson authorities, it has been their all-white constituents who are the only ones they've had any concern about all along. -- Nuggetsman
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