Tag Archives: Darren Wilson

Civil Liberties, Featured, Police Accountability, Police State, Politics, US

Michael Brown’s Parents Will File Lawsuit Against City of Ferguson, Darren Wilson

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On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced that it will not charge Darren Wilson, a white police officer from Ferguson, Missouri, with any civil rights violations in the shooting that killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager on August 9, 2014.

Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., have confirmed that they will pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against both Wilson and the city of Ferguson.

Anthony Gray, one of the attorneys representing the Brown family, spoke at a press conference on Thursday, and maintained the fact that the Brown family has felt from the very beginning that “Officer Darren Wilson did not have to shoot and kill Mike Brown, Jr. in broad daylight in the manner that he did, that he had other options available to him.”

“We are officially in the process of formulating a civil case that we anticipate will be filed very shortly on behalf of the family,” Gray said. “In our case, we plan to show and outline pretty much the same evidence; however, you will get a more clearer, a more accurate of what took place that day.”

Darryl Parks, another attorney representing the Brown family, said that the family is not surprised by DOJ’s findings, and that they were only choosing to file a lawsuit now, because they did not want to get in the way of the DOJ’s ongoing investigation before, and they are now “entering a different phase of this action.”

As previously reported, the DOJ’s decision not to charge Wilson with any civil rights violations in the shooting that killed Brown, comes at the same time as a report from the department, which revealed that the Ferguson police department exercised discrimination against the black community by using excessive force, issuing minor citations and making unnecessary traffic stops.

Federal law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that upon investigation, they found that 88 percent of the time use of excessive force was documented by Ferguson police, it was being used against a black individual, and that out of the city’s 53 police officers, only three were black.

Featured, Swann TV, US

Ferguson Sued For Running “Debtor’s Prison”

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Washington D.C.- Civil rights lawyers are taking the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo. to court over what they are calling unconstitutional “debtors prisons.”

The claim is that city officials routinely burden low-income individuals with outrageous fines before proceeding to throw them in jail for failure to pay these penalties, the group of attorneys is targeting the largely African-American city’s second largest source of income.

In the video above, Ben Swann talk with RT’s Marina Portnaya.

Featured, Police Accountability, Swann TV, US

Darren Wilson Grand Juror Sues Prosecutor For The Right To Speak

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Washington, D.C.- A grand juror in the Darren Wilson case is suing the St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch for the right to speak out about the grand jury proceedings. The juror says that McCulloch and his staff have “mischaracterized” the grand jury proceedings.

The grand juror, referred to only as “Grand Juror Doe” in the lawsuit, takes issue with how McCulloch characterized the case. McCulloch released evidence presented to the grand jury and publicly discussed the case after the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, then a Ferguson police officer, in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American.

According to the lawsuit, “The current information available about the grand jurors’ views is not entirely accurate — especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges.”

The grand jurors are under a permanent gag order unless a court grants them the right to speak out about the case.

Meanwhile, in New York, a hearing was postponed on Monday that would allow the the grand jury proceedings in the Eric Garner case to be released to the public.

In the video above, Ben Swann talks about the cases.

Featured, Swann TV, US

Should Ferguson Prosecutor Be Charged With “Aiding in Perjury”?

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Washington D.C.- No charges will be filed against any witness who lied to the Ferguson grand jury. Those words from the St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough.

As we reported last week, McCullough explain on St. Louis radio station 550 that he knew multiple witnesses were lying to the grand jury about what they saw the day Officer Darren Wilson and Mike Brown had their confrontation. But is this situation as easy as McCullough simply deciding not to press perjury charges?

Ben Swann interviewed attorney and Co-host of Ring of Fire Radio, Mike Papantonio about this issue. Papantonio says that what McCullough did may be a crime. If McCullough put witnesses in front of the grand jury, knowing they were perjuring themselves, McCullough himself could be charged with a crime.

Featured, Politics, Swann TV, US

“Smoking Gun” Investigation Finds Multiple Witnesses on Both Sides Lied To Ferguson Grand Jury

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Remarkable new details are emerging out of the grand jury testimony surrounding Mike Brown’s death.

A new investigation by the Smoking Gun claims that one of the witnesses who supported Darren Wilson’s account of being charged by Mike Brown may not have been at the scene. She may also have mental health issues and history of lying to police.

The witness in question was presented to the Grand Jury as “Witness 40”. The woman, who has now been identified as Sandra McElroy, reportedly claimed to have been on Canfield Drive at the same time that Officer Wilson and Mike Brown had their deadly confrontation.

McElroy claimed that she had written down notes of what happened in a journal and asked to read those before the grand jury. In those notes McElroy writes that she drove 30 miles away from her home down to Florissant because she “need to understand the black race better so I can stop calling blacks N—– and start calling them people.”

After that the journal entry goes into a long detailed, blow by blow account of the confrontation between Wilson and Brown.

In part, McElroy writes, “The cop was wobbling, the big kid turned around with his arms out with attitude. The cop just stood there. Dang. If that kid didn’t start running right at the cop like a football player. Head down. I heard 3 bangs but the big kid wouldn’t stop.”

Ben Swann interviewed Andrew Goldberg, managing editor with The Smoking Gun who explained that FBI investigators determined the day before she was put in front of the grand jury that McElroy was not telling the truth.

In addition, a woman who supported the story of Mike Brown putting his hands in the air, and claimed that she had recorded the video on her phone but accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet and then threw it away, was also allowed to testify before the grand jury.

Goldberg says that he would like to know which witnesses were not allowed in front of the grand jury because the prosecutor appears to have allowed anyone with any outlandish story to tell it to the grand jury.

Featured, Opinion, Police State, Politics, US

LOTFI: Rand Paul delivered the most incredibly bold Eric Garner statement

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By Michael Lotfi Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

NEW YORK, December 3, 2014– On Wednesday, a grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who was caught on video placing Eric Garner in a choke hold in July following accusations against Garner over alleged sales of loose cigarettes. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R- Ky.), the leading 2016 White House GOP contender, delivered a statement that transcends party politics and cuts straight to the meat of why Eric Garner died. Paul is blaming his colleagues (rightfully so), and he’s the only one bold enough to do it. 

Not even liberals at Huffington Post can resist the conservatarian Paul right now. Many of them are even saying they’d vote for the Tea Party-centric Senator over Hillary Clinton.

Follow Michael Lotfi: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Featured, Swann TV, US

Truth in Media Project Exposes The Root of Police Militarization

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Cincinnati, OH- Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Ben Swann and the Truth in Media Project will release their latest crowdfunded investigation. This story will expose the root of police militarization and why even if the Department of Defense 1033 program comes to an end, militarization will not.

Sign up below to have the episode sent directly to your inbox on December 10th.

Politics, US

Darren Wilson Resigns from Ferguson Police, Will Not Receive Severance Pay

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Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown during a confrontation on August 9, announced that he was resigning from the police force in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday.

Wilson’s resignation letter stated that he was leaving the force, due to the fact that he had been told his employment would put both the residents and the police officers of Ferguson at risk:

“I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process.”

Last week, the Grand Jury announced that they would not indict Wilson for Brown’s murder, sparking outrage in the city of Ferguson, which went beyond the protests that were held following Brown’s death in August.

According to NBC News, although Wilson resigned because of “credible threats” to both the department and its officers, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson “didn’t press Wilson to resign.”

Yahoo News reported that prior to the threats, the city of Ferguson was “already discussing an exit strategy,” and had acknowledged that Wilson “staying on as an officer there would be impossible.”

Following Wilson’s resignation, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles announced that Wilson will not receive any further pay or benefits, and that he has “severed ties” with the city.

According to ABC News, although Wilson was “cleared of criminal charges by the Grand Jury,” the Justice Department is “conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting as well as a separate probe of police department practices.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Wilson’s wife, Barbara Spradling, a 12-year-veteran of the Ferguson police force who he married on October 24, has been asked by the department to also resign, but “she has so far declined to do so.“

Politics, Swann TV, US

Ben Swann: Ferguson Clashes 30 Years in the Making

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Racial issues have long simmered in Ferguson, Missouri and many residents are not surprised at the recent unrest.

Long before Mike Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson, there were decades of tensions. Many of the issues that existed thirty years ago continue today, and it was only a matter of time before people became fed up, they claim.

Ben Swann reports from Ferguson.

Politics, US

Was Grand Jury in Ferguson Case Led To Their Decision By Prosecutor?

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Legal experts are questioning why the grand jury that decided to not indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson took a number of unusual steps.

From hearing first-hand testimony from Wilson himself to using potentially leading terminology to perhaps downplay the significance of the officer’s actions, many things make the proceedings different from most.

Attorney Patrice Sulton spoke to Ben Swann to provide insight.

Featured, Politics, US

Post-Shooting Darren Wilson Photos, Grand Jury Documents Released

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Photos of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, reportedly taken shortly after he fatally shot Michael Brown, have been released to the public by the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office.

In addition to the photos, numerous documents and pieces of evidence that were presented to the Grand Jury have also been released to the public, available to read here.

 

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