Sunday, November 30, 2014 The family of Michael Brown will - TopicsExpress



          

Sunday, November 30, 2014 The family of Michael Brown will press on with legal action after the police officer who shot and killed their unarmed son resigned, their lawyer said on Sunday. The officer, Darren Wilson, submitted his resignation on Saturday, five days after a grand jury decided not to indict him for the shooting of the black teenager. The decision sparked days of riots in Ferguson, Missouri, and nationwide protests. Ferguson’s mayor, James Knowles, said on Sunday that Wilson would not receive severance pay. Knowles also announced initiatives to encourage more minorities to join the local police force. Benjamin Crump, the Brown family’s attorney, said the family was not satisfied with Wilson’s resignation. “The community expected this,” he told CBS. “The family greatly wanted to have the killer of their unarmed son held accountable. They really will look at every legal avenue.” The family is considering a civil wrongful death lawsuit and is also championing proposed legislation to require police officers to wear video body cameras. The US Justice Department is also investigating possible civil and constitutional rights violations in Brown’s killing and has launched an investigation into the Ferguson police. Brown was shot dead on 9 August, leading to demonstrations and riots in the St Louis suburb, trouble which flared up again this week. Crump said the Brown family was still troubled by things that happened in the grand jury hearing that ruled against bringing Wilson to trial and by comments made by the police officer that his “conscience was clear” and he would do the same thing again in similar circumstances. “[Michael Brown’s] mother and father don’t think Officer Wilson had any consideration for their child and they wonder if he ever had a conscience,” said Crump. “We want police officers that do have a conscience in our community and not officers who are as cold as ice and see our children as demons and criminals.” Crump said the grand jury process was broken and “continues to yield the same results over and over again”. He said the documents released from the grand jury showed “just how partial” the prosecutor’s office was. “Look at the way they questioned the people who came out and said Michael Brown did nothing wrong and it was the police officer’s fault compared to the people who supported the police officer,” said Crump. “And especially the shooter Darren Wilson. Look at how they let him testify for four hours and never cross-examined him.” He said a first-year law student could have done a better job of quizzing Wilson. At his press conference, Mayor Knowles said Ferguson would triple a stipend paid to police officers who live as well as work in the city, introduce a scholarship programme for African Americans who go to the police academy and come to work in Ferguson, and introduce school programmes to reach out to children. “I think it’s best at this point that we continue to move on as a community,” he said. “Officer Wilson and his family have moved on and at this point the city of Ferguson is again looking at how we can bring this community together.” At the same press conference, police chief Tom Jackson said he would not resign. Neil Bruntrager, Wilson’s lawyer, told the Associated Press that Wilson resigned after learning of threats of violence against other officers and the department. “The information we had was that there would be actions targeting the Ferguson [police] department or buildings in Ferguson related to the police department,” Bruntrager said, adding that Wilson and the city had already acknowledged it would be impossible for Wilson to stay and that he decided to leave immediately once he learned of the threats. “Under the circumstances, nothing else was important other than safety,” Bruntrager said. Protests continued around the country into the weekend, including the second day of a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-led march from Ferguson to the Missouri state capital. The NAACP president, Cornell William Brooks, told the Guardian: “We are seeking both justice for Michael Brown’s family and systemic reform for an outraged community and an outraged country.” Meanwhile, a photograph of a white police officer hugging an African American boy at a protest in Portland this week went viral. The picture, of tearful 12-year-old Devonte Hart hugging Sergeant Brett Barnum, was taken by freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen and first posted on the Oregonian. It has now been shared more than 150,000 times on Facebook. According to the Oregonian, Hart was holding a sign at the rally that read “free hugs”. Barnum called him over and the two began talking about the demonstration, school, life and art. Afterwards, Barnum motioned toward the boy’s sign and asked: “Do I get one of those?”
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 11:10:02 +0000

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